


<h2>Research Projects</h2>

<ul><li>Leptin characteristics and roles in ruminants - with special reference to 
the high-yielding dairy cow.</li><li>Methods of increasing the maturity of forage maize and 
the effects of the maturity of the crop on the peformanace of lactating dairy cows and the growth of 
beef cattle</li><li>Investigation of the efficiency of nutrient utilization,reproductive 
performance and general health traits of the NRF and Holstein Friesian breeds</li><li>Body 
Composition of Dairy Cattle</li><li>An examination of the potential contribution of cross 
breeding to improve the profitability of dairying in Northern Ireland</li><li>Reducing phosphorus 
levels in dairy cow diets in Northern Ireland</li><li>Dairy cow management systems to reduce 
labour inputs</li><li>An examination of factors influencing oestrous behaviour in postpartum 
dairy cows</li><li>The effect of compensatory growth during the rearing period on performance 
of dairy heifers</li><li>To develop improved systems for rearing dairy herd replacements.</li><li>Effect 
of concentrate composition on milk production of dairy cattle offered a range of grass silages with 
differing intake characteristics.</li><li>Development of an improved system for characterising 
ruminant feeds leading to the development of a nutritional model for dairy cows.</li><li>A 
comparison of four contrasting milk production systems with winter calving high genetic merit cows.</li><li>Dairy 
herd fertility - Examination of effects of increasing genetic merit and other herd factors on reproductive 
performance.</li><li>Alternative strategies to increase the nutrient intakes of high genetic 
merit cows on winter type dietary regimes.</li><li>To assess the potential of the Norwegian 
Dairy Cattle breed (NRF) as an alternative to Holstein Friesian breed for Northern Ireland</li><li>Low 
input forages for ruminant production systems<br></li></ul>