Please note: AFBI does not provide funding for research studentships – these are provided by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and other funding agencies. (Related article: DARD launches postgraduate research awards 2009)

For further information contact:

Dr A Carson or Dr L Easson
Telephone 028 92 682484
E-mail info@afbini.gov.uk

Or, you can contact the member of staff coordinating the specific project

Contact: Dr Peter Frost

Contact: Dr Peter Frost

Contact: Dr Peter Frost

Project coordinator: Dr Lindsay Easson

As the utilisation of biomass for renewable energy increases the demand for locally sourced biomass is growing.  Many secondary products of forestry such as forest brash and thinnings could be utilised for biomass, but systems need to be developed to deliver them to meet quality standards in terms of moisture content, particle size and mineral content.  This project would investigate a wide range of issues in the supply chain from forest through to the performance of biomass boilers using fuel from different sources. Particular emphasis would be placed on identifying cost-effective options for the storage and drying of wood chip.

Contact: Dr Lindsay Easson

Project coordinator: Dr Lindsay Easson

The energy efficiency of growing energy crops has been questioned by some scientists.  Further studies are needed to evaluate all the energy inputs into growing crops for biomass and biofuel, including cultivation, growing, harvesting, processing and use in vehicles and into biomass for wood biomass heating, gasification or anaerobic digestion.  The project would involve detailed recording of energy inputs from cultivation through to end use and an evaluation of the potential environmental benefits.

Contact: Dr Lindsay Easson

Project coordinator: Dr Lindsay Easson

Miscanthus (Elephant grass) is being grown in GB and Ireland as a high yielding multi-annual biomass crop, principally for use in power stations, while in the USA it is seen as a raw material for 2nd generation biofuel production.  However there is a need for research into the agronomy of the crop so that establishment can be achieved more reliably and at lower cost.  This project would take forward investigations into factors affecting the viability and early growth of newly planted rhizomes.

Contact: Dr Lindsay Easson

Project coordinator: Dr Niamh O’Connell

Poor reproductive performance in dairy cows is a significant contributor to reduced profit in NI dairy farms.  One of the main factors contributing to this low level of reproduction performance is poor oestrus detection.  This may be related to the fact that modern Holstein Friesian genotypes do not display oestrus as overtly as their predecessors.  It is possible that housing and management factors can be manipulated to encourage cows to display oestrus more overtly.  The present project will investigate the effect of environmental factors, such as space allowance, flooring and access to exercise areas, and other management factors including level of nutrition, on oestrus behaviour by Holstein Friesian cows.

Contact: Dr Niamh O’Connell

Project coordinator: Dr Niamh O’Connell

There is increasing interest in improving the welfare of broiler chickens through provision of environmental enrichment.  One of the key objectives of the enrichment is to promote behavioural activity in chickens and thereby reduce lameness problems.  It may be possible to enrich the environment of broiler chickens through altering the light environment or through provision of foraging or exploratory behaviours.  Commercial broilers are normally reared using artificial light, and this differs from natural light in terms of colour, intensity, photoperiod and flicker.  In particular, artificial light is deficient in ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths, and these are particularly important in avian colour perception.  The deficiency in UV light has been linked with reduced exploratory behaviour and increased stress in hens.  It may also be possible to stimulate behavioural activity in broiler chickens through provision of environmental enrichment in the form of straw bales, perches or hanging objects.  However the effects of these factors on behaviour, productivity and leg health have not been established in modern commercial systems.  The objective of this project will be to assess the most suitable methods of providing environmental enrichment for commercially-housed broiler chickens.

Contact: Dr Niamh O’Connell

Project coordinator: Dr Tianhai Yan

Methane emission from dairy cows is a considerable source of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. In the UK, dairy cows are estimated to contribute about 20% of total UK atmospheric methane production. Methane emission is also a loss of consumed energy, which is on average 6% of gross energy intake in lactating dairy cows.  Therefore, decreasing methane production from cattle not only reduces the greenhouse effect on the global warming, but also increases the efficiency of utilisation of energy for milk production. The objectives of this project are to examine effects of dietary additives on methane emission as a proportion of milk yield and the efficiency of energy utilisation for milk production. Methane emission from cattle will be measured using indirect open-circuited respiration calorimetric chambers. At present, there are only 4 large animal calorimeter chambers are in use in the UK and Ireland, two in AFBI Hillsborough and two in Reading University. These chambers can measure both methane emission and heat production of animals. The heat production is generated from the maintenance of metabolic activities of animals and the inefficiencies of energy use for production.

Contact: Dr Tianhai Yan

Project coordinator: Dr Tianhai Yan

Grazed grass is a major source of feeds for dairy cattle in North America and Europe. In Northern Ireland, cows are on grazing for more than half a year (from early April to late October). Therefore, a large proportion of feeds that a cow consumes during the whole lactation comes from grazed grass (on average 47% in Northern Ireland). However, there is little information available in the literature on effects of fresh grass on energy metabolism of dairy cows. The energy feeding system, currently used in the UK, is developed from energy metabolism data of grass silage-based diets. However, the extensive fermentation during the preservation of grass changes the nutrient concentrations, such as, reduction in pH, production of volatile fatty acids, lactic acids and alcohol from fermentation of soluble carbohydrates, and degradation of some crude protein into ammonia. Therefore using this system to estimate nutrient requirements for grazing dairy cows can result in considerable errors. The objectives of this project are to examine possible difference between fresh grass and grass silages made from the same swards in the efficiencies of utilisation of energy in lactating dairy cows. Energy metabolism data will be measured using our state of arts facility (indirect open-circuited respiration calorimetric chambers).  

Contact: Dr Tianhai Yan

Project coordinator: Dr Tianhai Yan

Several long term lactation studies in dairy cows have been undertaken at AFBI Hillsborough during last 10 years. These studies evaluated the effects of a range of dietary, animal and management factors on animal health, fertilities, body condition and milk production during grazing season and winter indoor feeding period. All data of feed (intake, chemical composition and ME concentration), animal (live weight, BCS, parity, milk yield and composition) were recorded in the AFBI Hillsborough electronic recording system. The objectives of this project are to collate all data from these studies and statistically analyse those data, to evaluate the energy rationing system for dairy cattle (Feed into Milk models) currently adopted in the UK, and to develop prediction models and mitigation strategies for methane and manure N outputs in dairy production systems in Northern Ireland. The statistical analysis will provide evidence on the suitability of current energy rationing systems for rationing grazing dairy cattle, e.g., if there is any difference in energetic efficiencies between grazing and indoor feeding. The statistical analysis will also provide information to identify feeding and management regimes which will reduce the environmental impact of dairy farming (i.e., methane and manure N excretion) in Northern Ireland, whilst maintaining animal production and welfare. Improving production efficiency and reducing environment impact are vital for dairy farming in NI to maintain the sustainability.

Contact: Dr Tianhai Yan

Project coordinator: Dr Tianhai Yan

There is evidence indicating that dietary manipulation can influence methane emission of cattle. The statistical modelling at AFBI and elsewhere demonstrated that methane emission as a proportion of DM intake was reduced with decreasing dietary ADF concentration and increasing dietary CP concentration. In the light of these findings, there is a possibility to alter enteric methane production of cattle offering grass diets with increasing proportion of clover forage, because clover contains a much high concentration of CP and lower concentration of fibre in comparison to grass. Clover also contains saponins which can be methane inhibitors. The objectives of this project are to explore possible effects on methane production of cattle using grass diets containing different proportions of clover. The project will examine effects of various combinations of clover and grass on rumen microbial population and growth and enteric methane emission as a proportion of feed intake and animal products (milk and meat). Enteric methane emission from cattle will be measured using our state of the art indirect open-circuited respiration calorimeters.

Contact: Dr Tianhai Yan

Project coordinator: Dr Alistair Carson

Research undertaken on lowland farms throughout Northern Ireland in conjunction with Hillsborough has illustrated the benefits associated with lambing ewes outdoors in terms of improved lamb birth weights, reduced feed costs and reduced labour inputs at lambing.  In view of the increased age structure of sheep farmers and an increased proportion of farmers seeking off-farm employment, easy-care systems of sheep production will assume increased importance in the future.  Further work is needed to obtain reliable information on the labour inputs involved in sheep production, choice of ewe and ram breeds suited to easy-care systems and investigation of how general management practices e.g. dosing, feet paring can be adapted to minimise labour inputs.  The aim of this project would be to address some of these issues to increase labour efficiency on sheep farms in Northern Ireland.

Contact: Dr Alistair Carson

Project coordinator: Dr Alistair Carson

Heifer rearing research undertaken at the Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland has clearly demonstrated that, in terms of economics and animal welfare, high genetic merit dairy heifers should be reared to calve at 540 kg live weight at 24 months of age.  However, recent benchmarking data produced from DARD has indicated that the majority of dairy producers calve heifers at 30 months of age.  There is a therefore a need to establish reasons for dairy producers adopting the heifer rearing regimes currently in place on their farms and to ascertain farmers attitudes to results of research programmes.  Information is also required on the performance of heifers on the farms in terms of body size and subsequent lactational performance.  On this basis of this information, this research programme would involve evaluating the current performance of heifers on farms in Northern Ireland, assessing farmers attitudes to research and adoption of results of research and ultimately imposing an improved heifer rearing regime on each farm i.e. calving at 540 kg at 24 months of age and monitoring effects on subsequent performance.  

Contact: Dr Alistair Carson

Project coordinators: Dr E McCann and Dr J George

The immediate post-hatch period is a critical time for broilers but there is a lack of research in this area. Due to hatching and production systems, broilers may not have access to feed or water for up to 48 hours post-hatch but the effect of this restriction on subsequent performance and nutrient digestibility is unknown. Furthermore, it has been established that broilers consume a considerable quantity of litter in the first few days of placement in the house. Litter has no nutritional value and as a consequence, a significant number of broilers die of starvation. It is thought that broilers have a “requirement” for fibre in this early stage but no research has been conducted on the use of high fibre diets for broilers. This project would address these gaps in the scientific literature and provide useful information to increase the sustainability of the broiler industry.

Contact: Dr Elizabeth McCann

Project coordinators: Dr E Magowan and Dr E McCann

Pig diets undergo a number of ‘heat’ processes during production.  Some of these are intentional e.g. cooking while others are a secondary output e.g. heat created from the pelleting or expansion process.  A degree of heat is required during the production process for bio security reasons, however it is suspected that the amount of heat used in the production process could be reduced, hence saving energy costs and reducing the carbon footprint of pig diet production.  Should ‘low energy’ diets be created, they ultimately need to be tested on farm to ensure pig performance is not compromised since slower or less efficient pig production will have negative environmental implications and therefore counteract any ‘environmental’ savings made during the diet production process.  There are few scientific projects which interlink the effect of production processes in the mill with pig performance on farm.  This project will work closely with a feed processor to investigate areas of improvement in energy efficiency and the subsequent effect of the diets produced on pig digestibility and performance.

Contact: Dr Elizabeth McCann

Project coordinators: Dr E McCann and Dr E Magowan.

Environmental issues relating to agriculture are mainly associated with pollution arising from the inevitable excretion of nitrogen- and phosphorus-containing substances. Whilst the excretion of phosphorus (P) associated with pig production is less than 10 per cent of agricultural P output to the environment and only about 6 per cent of the total P output in Northern Ireland, it has come under particular scrutiny, partly because the slurry tends to be spread onto a relatively small land mass, with possible consequences for pollution of waterways. The majority (60-80%) of P present in cereal grains is in the form of phytates which are salts of phytic acid. Pigs do not produce the enzyme phytase which is necessary to hydrolyse P from the phytate molecule. Therefore the P in cereal grain is not very digestible and cereals cannot supply the required level of P. Traditionally, this problem has been overcome by the addition of inorganic P to diets for pigs but this has negative environmental implications and increases the cost of diet production. In recent years, supplementation of pig diets with the enzyme phytase has been investigated as a means of improving the availability of cereal phytate, thus reducing the requirement for inorganic P and the amount of P excreted. While there has been significant research conducted on the use of phytase, there are still several areas which require further investigation, for example, phytase efficiency in processed diets or in wet feeding systems. Previous studies at AFBI have concluded that phytase can reduce excretion of P to the environment if used in conjunction with low P diets. One of the aims of this work programme is to further investigate the efficiency and benefit of including phytase in diets for pigs. Another means of reducing the amount of total P in pig diets is through the utilisation of low-phytic-acid cereal grains. Research in Canada has investigated the use of low phytic-acid barley for pigs and concluded that low phytate genotypes were effective in increasing P digestibility. There have been no studies conducted in the UK in this area and it is of interest to ascertain the overall nutritive value of low phytic-acid barley and how this can be used to reduce P excretion in order for producers to satisfy the demands of European Union legislation.

Contact: Dr Elizabeth McCann

Project coordinators: Dr Elizabeth Magowan, Dr Elizabeth McCann and Dr Bruce Moss

The consumption of natural healthy food is encouraged to improve the health of the nation and, in addition a proportion of consumers are prepared to spend more money on products which have ‘added value’ and which provide nutrients that they otherwise may have to consume in tablet form.  Some of the main targets of human nutrition include increasing vitamin intake e.g. folic acid and vitamin E, decreasing saturated fat and improving the balance of omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids.  Dietary manipulation of monogastric meat has been relatively easily achieved with the meat or egg fatty acid profile largely reflecting the dietary fatty acid profile.  However, much work has focused on manipulating one nutrient at a time, e.g. the fatty acid profile of pork using various oilseeds or including vitamins e.g. vitamin E, and little work has focused on including combinations of oil sources and vitamins or minerals.  In addition, the cost of production of this ‘added value’ pork is commonly higher than normal.  Recently it has been reported that the nutritional requirements of gilts and boars from 60kg live weight differed.  It may also be the case that gilts and boars respond differently to dietary manipulation in the later finishing stages.  

The proposed project, aims to investigate different forms of dietary manipulation of fatty acids, vitamins and minerals in combination on 1) production performance and 2) carcass quality of pigs; 3) meat quality 4) eating quality and 5) composition of cooked and uncooked pork from gilts and boars of traditional Landrace (LR) x Large White (LW) breeds.  Particular emphasis will be on using dietary ingredients which have minimal impact on the cost of production.

Contact: Dr Elizabeth.Magowan

Project coordinators: Dr E McCann, Dr E Magowan and Dr A Wylie

It is well known that pigs housed individually consume more feed and hence grow faster than pigs housed in groups. There are a number of reasons for this phenomenon including boredom and lack of aggression but none of them fully explain why pigs behave differently in groups. AFBI has recently commissioned a new research facility which enables feed intakes and feeding behaviour to be recorded for individual pigs kept in commercial-like groups. This programme of work will involve the use of this facility to assess the feeding behaviour of pigs and how behaviour can contribute to performance of pigs.  The work may also be guided by recent evidence of the involvement of several hormones of gut and adipose tissue origin in the control of appetite, feed intake and satiety and of meal initiation, meal size and meal duration.  

Contact: Dr Elizabeth.Magowan

Project coordinator: Dr O’Connell

Pigs are often subjected to a number of different stressors during the post-weaning period.  For example, in addition to dietary changes and separation from dam, pigs are usually exposed to acute stressors such as handling and moving, exposure to new environments and mixing with unfamiliar animals.  These factors often combine to have negative effects on health, welfare and productivity during the post-weaning period.  In particular, stress at weaning may exacerbate problems associated with PMWS, and development of adverse behaviours such as belly nosing and tail biting.  The aim of this project is to assess the effect of management factors during the pre- and post-weaning period on health, welfare and productivity of weaned pigs.  In particular, the effects of lactation environment, method of handling at weaning and number of litters per weaned group will be assessed.  

Contact: Dr Niamh O’Connell

Project coordinators: Dr J George and Dr E McCann

Broiler health is important not just in relation to the economics of production but also for welfare reasons. Consumers expect food that is safe and humanely produced. Bacterial, viral and coccidial challenges can pose severe threats to the broiler industry. Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), a perennial plant used as a food additive, preservative and colouring agent in Asian cuisine contains curcumin (3-4%) and demethoxy plus bismethoxy derivatives of curcumin. These compunds are bioactive, non-toxic and possess antiviral, antibacterial, anti-protozoan, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties. There is much evidence of interest in curcumin and its derivatives in the fields of medicine and pharmacology. This project aims to study the effect of curcumin on broiler performance and gut microflora and assess the best levels of inclusion in broiler diet.

Contact: Dr Elizabeth McCann

Project coordinators: Dr J George and Dr E McCann

FPD is a condition commonly observed in intensively reared poultry industries and is a serious animal welfare issue. The aetiology of FPD has been described as an inflammation of the skin due to corrosive factors present in wet litters, associated with commercial high density production. This project aims to examine traditional and alternative litter types and quality and also study various aspects of air quality in broiler housing units. A range of other factors such as stocking density, water quality and consumption, etc. will be investigated to determine optimum conditions for alleviation/elimination of FPD in commercial broiler production.

Contact: Dr Elizabeth McCann

Project coordinator: Dr O’Connell

Pigs are often subjected to a number of different stressors during the post-weaning period.  For example, in addition to dietary changes and separation from dam, pigs are usually exposed to acute stressors such as handling and moving, exposure to new environments and mixing with unfamiliar animals.  These factors often combine to have negative effects on health, welfare and productivity during the post-weaning period.  In particular, stress at weaning may exacerbate problems associated with PMWS, and development of adverse behaviours such as belly nosing and tail biting.  The aim of this project is to assess the effect of management factors during the pre- and post-weaning period on health, welfare and productivity of weaned pigs.  In particular, the effects of lactation environment, method of handling at weaning and number of litters per weaned group will be assessed.  

Contact: Dr Niamh O’Connell

Project coordinator: Dr L Dawson

The Uk target under the Kyoto agreement is to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2050.  Globally, agriculture accounts for 10 to 12% of total global emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHG’s) (IPCC 2007).  Agricultural N2O have been projected to increase by 35 to 60% by 2030 due to increased nitrogen fertilizer use and increased animal manure production (FAO), 2003).  Similarly, CH4 emissions are expected to increase by 60% by 2030.  An integral component of mitigation strategies put forward to reduce GHG emissions in agriculture includes management of livestock to make more efficient use of feeds (IPCC, 2007).  On this basis, it is therefore vital that research provides information on mechanisms for improving the efficiency of beef production and to measure GHG emissions associated with different finishing systems.

The objectives of this research research project are:

Contact: Dr Lynne Dawson

Project coordinator: Dr Alistair Carson, Dr L Dawson

The development of a database containing phenotypes for the Northern Ireland beef industry was a key recommendation from the Red Meat Task Force Report (2007).  As a result a single unified database of beef phenotypic data has been developed by AFBI through the integration of data from APHIS and meat processing plants.  Where sire information is present, this data can then be used for genetic valuations.  The proposed PhD project aims to interrogate the database to produce information on dam and sire breed, gender, age, carcass weight and their interactions on growth and carcass characteristics.  This information can then be used to identify breeding and management strategies to meet a range of market specifications with the maximum possible production efficiency.  Information from the database can also be used to determine the genetic merit of individual animals and thus underpin future genetic improvement programmes.

The objectives of this research research project are:

Contact: Dr Alistair Carson or Dr Lynne Dawson