AgriSearch has led a study tour from Northern Ireland (NI) to the Republic of Ireland (ROI) to examine research and innovation in the sheep sector.
The organisation stated it has been concerned about the “lack of recent sheep research being commissioned” by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) at Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI).
The sector is an important part of NI’s agri-food sector, and AgriSearch explained that sheep farming is “often the mainstay enterprise in the less favoured areas of NI”.
Sheep farming also has an important role in maintaining upland areas and delivering a wide range of ecosystem services, the organisation added.
To address these issues, and to help develop recommendations for future sheep research and innovation, AgriSearch formed a sheep working group, which held its first meeting earlier this year.
Arising from this, it was decided to organise a study tour to examine research and innovation in the sector in the ROI.
Members of the working group were joined by members of the NI sheep taskforce, and a total of eleven people participated in the AgriSearch led study tour.
The first visit was the Lyons Estate research farm of University College Dublin (UCD) where Prof. Tommy Boland gave the group an overview of recent sheep research.
The group then got the opportunity to visit the long-term experiments in multi-species swards and grass / white clover swards.
Delegates then met with Jaynell Anderson and Sean Godfrey of Sheep Ireland who gave a detailed overview of the activities of Sheep Ireland and how it has evolved since it was first established fifteen years ago.
The following day delegates visited Teagasc’s sheep research station at Athenry, where Dr. Philip Creighton gave an overview of the research activities.
Areas examined include genetics, methane emissions and feed additives, parasite management and anthelmintic use, grassland research (including the use of clovers, multi-species swards and alternative forage options) and water quality.
The group then got a chance to look at the grazing platform at Athenry and discussed the ongoing research on water quality taking place there.
AgriSearch stated that the group found the study tour “very beneficial” and will be meeting again in the coming days to discuss the key lessons from the trip and how these could be applied to future research and innovation programmes in NI.
