The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) stand at the Winter Fair was a hive of activity this year as farmers and industry representatives came along to discuss a wide range of current issues.

The AFBI Cattle Health Scheme, now in its 10th year, was of particular interest to farmers keen to reduce costs through adopting a control programme for endemic infectious diseases. There was particular interest in control strategies for Neosporosis, which is the most commonly diagnosed cause of infectious abortion of dairy cows in the UK, and accounts for around 7% of abortions in Northern Ireland.
Other key issues discussed included optimum concentrate feed rates this winter, options to stretch silage stocks over the winter and the latest in calf rearing systems to optimise lifetime performance.
AFBI’s grass breeding scientists joined with their commercial partners, Barenbrug, for the launch of the latest AFBI-bred perennial ryegrass, CALEDON- an intermediate tetraploid variety bred to offer major improvements in both grass yield and disease resistance.
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