To celebrate the International Year of the Potato AFBI scientists have written a series of articles, some providing background to the potato and others reporting some of their own work. This article is the tenth in the series and can be viewed along with the others on the website.
A joint research project is being carried out to investigate how cattle differ in their genetic susceptibility to bovine Tuberculosis (TB).
Living with a derogation: controlling your farm phosphorus balance.
Disappointing Grass and Maize Silage in 2008.
To celebrate the International Year of the Potato AFBI scientists have written a series of articles providing background to the potato and reporting some of their own work. This article is the ninth in the series. All others can also be viewed on the website.
Manures produced by housed farm livestock in Northern Ireland are a valuable resource both as a plant fertiliser and as a source of renewable energy.
Interest in the ability of white clover to supply nitrogen to grassland has been increasing over the past year or two due to large increases in fertiliser price. The use of grass/clover swards is compatible with maintaining a stock carrying capacity equivalent to grass swards receiving up to 200kg nitrogen per hectare per year.
Although the persistent unsettled weather brought the grazing season to an abrupt end on many farms in mid/late September, the first snow of the winter in mid-October really finished off the season.
To celebrate the International Year of the Potato AFBI scientists have written a series of articles providing background to the potato and reporting some of their own work. This article is the eighth in the series. All others can also be viewed on the website.
Officers of the British Veterinary Association (BVA), North of Ireland Veterinary Association (NIVA), Association of Veterinary Surgeons Practising in Northern Ireland (AVSPNI) and the Northern Ireland region of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA-NI) met recently at the Veterinary Sciences Division (VSD) of AFBI.
To celebrate the International Year of the Potato AFBI scientists have written a series of articles providing background to the potato and reporting some of their own work. This article is the seventh in the series. All others can also be viewed on the website.
Although no cases of acute liver fluke disease have yet been detected this autumn at the AFBI laboratories in Omagh and Stormont, the weather during the critical summer period of May to August was unusually wet, and therefore high levels of infection are to be expected in the late autumn. Farmers should now be on the alert for this condition.
Over 40 policymakers, academics, consultants and NGOs from across Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland attended a thought-provoking seminar on the Economics of Environmental Emissions at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute Headquarters in Belfast on the 10th of October.
Yields from the 2008 winter wheat variety trials, conducted by AFBI on behalf of DARD and part-funded by the Home-Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA), are now available.
The International Renewable Energy Conference and Exhibition (IREC08), to be held at the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle on 29-30 October 2008, will highlight the importance of novel energy crops as well as the traditional biomass crops.
To celebrate the International Year of the Potato AFBI scientists have written a series of articles, some providing background to the potato and others reporting some of their own work. This article is the sixth in the series; previous articles can also be viewed on the website.
AFBI today announced its sponsor line up for its International Renewable Energy Conference (IREC08) to be held in the Slieve Donard Hotel on 29 and 30 October 2008.
To celebrate the International Year of the Potato AFBI scientists have written a series of articles, some providing background to the potato and others reporting some of their own work. This article is the fifth in the series, previous articles can also be viewed on the website.
A famous ancestor of mine (I like to think so anyway!) Robert Shipboy McAdam, a prominent Belfast businessman wrote in a paper read before the Belfast Natural History Society in 1835 “It is singular, that although the potato is now so widely diffused among civilized nations as a staple article of food, its history, and the time of its introduction are wrapped in great obscurity”.
AFBI, in conjunction with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), has recently won a prestigious Home Office Tilley Award for the most innovative method of crime prevention in the UK this year.
The 2008 growing season was quite extraordinary. Northern Ireland had the lowest rainfall in the UK this Spring, with only 71 and 26% of the 1961-90 Met Office average in April and May, respectively.
Research undertaken by AFBI at Hillsborough has demonstrated that methane emission from dairy cows accounts for on average 6% of total energy intake.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) Minister, Michelle Gildernew visited AFBI's Veterinary Sciences Laboratories at Stormont to welcome the "Small Bull" group on their visit to the laboratory's Chemical Surveillance Branch.
The value of potatoes as a staple food over millennia in South America was told in a previous article. The arrival of the potato in Europe is a well-known story, or is it?
AFBI Loughgall hosted a pre-harvest Orchard Walk recently with a large turnout of growers viewing current progress in DARD’s apple research programme.
The international credentials of the potato were examined in the light of the United Nations International Year of the Potato in 2008 in a previous article. In this article we begin to look at its history.
To celebrate the International Year of the Potato AFBI scientists have written a series of articles, some providing background to the potato and others reporting some of their own work. This article is the first in the series.
The wet summer and recent flood damage to some potato crops may result in tubers with pink rot sometimes referred to as ‘water slain’. This disease occurs sporadically on heavy, moisture-retentive soils, but conditions this year may encourage infection more widely.
A recently completed AgriSearch and Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) co-funded research study, undertaken at AFBI Hillsborough, investigated the effects of the inclusion of maize forage or wholecrop wheat on cow performance when offered in the winter diet, in combination with either good quality or poorer quality grass silage.
The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) was delighted to provide Mr Jim Nichloson MLA with an update on current scientific work on animal health and food safety during a recent visit to the Institute’s Veterinary Sciences Division (VSD) at Stormont.
A major step forward in renewable energy research is taking place with the construction of a new Renewable Energy Centre at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute’s Hillsborough site.
The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) Cattle Health Scheme facilitates herdowners in demonstrating freedom of their herds from up to four of the most economically important infectious disease agents present in herds in Ireland, or to monitor and eradicate these infections as appropriate.
The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) operates the premier forage analytical service in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute’s (AFBI) inaugural conference and exhibition will showcase both technological developments in the renewable energy sector and the business opportunities that exist within Northern Ireland for developing renewable energy infrastructure and applications on a local community scale.
The Global Research Unit based at AFBI Hillsborough, has produced another set of valuable and timely reports for the Agri-Food industry in Northern Ireland. Under the direction of Dr. Vanessa Woods, a senior researcher at Hillsborough, the Global Research Unit team has produced eight state of the art literature reviews to date, commissioned by DARD policy, the wider industry and the Chief Executive of AFBI, Dr. George McIlroy.
The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute is delighted to announce that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with North Carolina State University (NCSU) in the United States of America. This important collaboration will allow for staff and student exchanges from a research and education perspective.
Over 40 willow growers attended an open day / workshop at AFBI's Loughgall site, jointly organised by AFBI and College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE).
AFBI was delighted to be able to receive a delegation from the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences recently.
Everyone knows that white clover fixes nitrogen, but when fertilizer prices were reasonable few farmers made much use of this opportunity. If the clover added a little, fine but if not, it wasn’t a critical loss. Given current fertilizer prices, it is time to think seriously about free nitrogen from white clover.
It may amaze many to know that in Northern Ireland, farmers are leaving their grass swards down for twice as long as they did 25 years ago.
It is well known that a reduction in cereal particle size within processed diets improves productive performance of poultry by increasing nutrient digestibility although little work has been carried out in laying hens.
Research to underpin sustainable livestock systems was the big topic of discussion on view at AFBI, Hillsborough for a visiting group of International Nuffield Scholars.
This is only one of the many questions asked of Dr Archie K. Murchie, an entomologist from AFBI Newforge Lane in Belfast.
Professor John Comerford, one of the leading beef research scientists in the United States, based at Penn State University recently visited AFBI, Hillsborough.
AFBI has been operational in seabed mapping for more than ten years and its knowledge of the seabed and associated benthic habitats are fundamental to marine resource management.
AFBI organised the 6th workshop of the European Union (EU) funded Veterinary Network of Laboratories Researching into Improved Diagnosis and Epidemiology of Mycobacterial Diseases (VENoMYC) consortium.
AFBI is a now recognised ‘knowledge provider’ under the newly launched Invest NI and Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher Schemes\
Two recent appointments by the AFBI have significantly strengthened the dairy research team at AFBI Hillsborough.
Initial results from the AFBI Hillsborough Feeding Information System (HFIS) grass analysis service show that, whilst grass crop yields for silage in May this year have been lower than normal, grass quality has been excellent.
The entire Teagasc Forestry Development Officer Team visited AFBI Loughgall on 15 May 2008 for their annual staff awareness and fact finding outing.
Do you know as much about dairy cow lameness as you think you do?
If you are a Northern Ireland dairy farmer then the answer is probably “yes”. This is according to a recent survey carried out by scientists from AFBI Hillsborough.
Although
the autumn and winter period have seen milk prices improve on the back of a buoyant world market, the
first few months of 2008 have seen concentrate and fertiliser prices also increase substantially.
The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) has been awarded the
contract for provision of the UK Marine Biotoxin National Reference Laboratory (NRL) services by the
Food Standards Agency, London. The achievement of NRL status recognises the major contribution
AFBI makes to the field of marine biotoxin and phytoplankton analysis.
The Alagappa University, Tamil Nadu in Southern India is to support academic research and training links into Molecular Parasitology and Anthelmintic drug development with local scientists.
Grazed grass is the cheapest source of feed available for beef cattle in Northern Ireland. Although recent increases in beef prices indicate a strengthening beef market these price increases are largely offset by increased concentrate prices highlighting the necessity to maximise beef output from grazed grass.
As part of a recent fact finding mission to Northern Ireland, leading dairy farmers from Chile recently visited AFBI Hillsborough to view and discuss latest developments in sustainable dairy production.
An innovative study at AFBI and Queen’s University (QUB) has potentially discovered an exciting new technique for defining the nutritive value of wheat for broiler chickens.
AFBI wishes to advise sheep farmers of the likely risk of Nematodirus worm infection in young lambs this spring.
Although the autumn and winter period has seen the dairy industry benefit from improved milk prices on the back of a buoyant world market, the dramatic cost increases of both concentrate and fertiliser inputs has brought this into perspective.
AFBI presented its first Annual Report and Accounts at an Open Board Meeting held today at the Newforge Lane Headquarters in Belfast.
The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) is delighted to have issued the first certificate under its recently launched commercial Cattle Health Scheme to County Antrim farmer Mr. Ian Davidson for his Limosin bull Ballyrickard Barney Davidson.
Dr Desmond Patterson, AFBI Hillsborough, recently retired after more than 32 years of dedicated service to research in support of the agri-food industry in Northern Ireland.
Disease development in 2007 allowed for clear discrimination between varieties in their resistance to disease. Despite significant levels of disease, average yields of spring barley and spring oats were 0.5 and 1.0 tonnes per hectare higher than in 2006, respectively.
A large number of dairy farmers recently attended a workshop on dairy cow lameness organised by McLarnon Feeds as part of their ongoing Dairy Consultancy programme, and hosted by AFBI, Hillsborough.
Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Michelle Gildernew MP, MLA, was welcomed today to the Veterinary Sciences Division of AFBI by chair Mr Seán Hogan and Dr George McIlroy, AFBI Chief Executive.
AFBI has welcomed the recent publication of the ‘Sustainable biofuels: prospects and challenges’ report by the Royal Society.
Successful calf rearing is critical to profitable dairy and beef production enterprises.
More than 200 sheep farmers braved the cold temperatures to hear the latest developments in hill sheep research at the recent farm walks organised by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) Hillsborough, CAFRE (Greenmount Campus) and AgriSearch.
Novel technologies that could naturally extend shelf-life were some of the issues discussed at a “Shelf-life – Making Food Last Longer” event held at AFBI Headquarters recently.
With Identity Theft on everyone’s mind at the moment…what about protecting the identity of livestock?
The ‘Pig Levy’ collected over the past 10 years has enabled scientific investigation of many key pig industry issues, through research undertaken with the pig research herd at AFBI, Hillsborough.
Pig producers in Northern Ireland contribute 21p for every pig slaughtered in Northern Ireland to the ‘Pig levy’.
Nine hundred Northern Ireland farmers and their families are being invited to tell of the pressures and diversification challenges they face as part of a major new study.
This year’s Winter Fair was a special occasion for AFBI and it's long-standing grass breeding partners Barenbrug with the launch of two new grass varieties, Tyrella and Malone which will be available to local farmers in 2008.
