New AFBI research launched into alternative forages across Northern Ireland
Date published:
Grassland scientists from the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) have launched a new project investigating the performance of alternative forages on eight farms across Northern Ireland.
Forage-S is a three-year study which will look at how a mix of grasses and alternative forages perform under different weather and environmental conditions found on Northern Ireland farms, compared to perennial ryegrass monocultures.
The alternative forages include legumes such as white and red clover and herbs such as chicory and plantain.
The project, which is being run in collaboration with the College of Agriculture, Food & Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) and AgriSearch, will investigate how soil type, weather and field management affect sward establishment and productivity over the lifetime of the project.
Forage-S will involve a diverse range of farms, including upland and lowland sites, AFBI Hillsborough’s research farm, and CAFRE’s Greenmount site and Hill Farm Centre at Glenwherry, Co Antrim.
The sites have been selected for their specific location, soil type and weather conditions. Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), the study will include farms in counties Fermanagh, Derry/Londonderry, Antrim and Down.
Forage-S
The project is led by Dr David Patterson and Dr Aurélie Aubry from AFBI Hillsborough and also involves scientists from AFBI’s Newforge and Crossnacreevy research sites.
Dr Patterson said: “Forage-S aims to provide empirical evidence of alternative forages establishment, biomass yield, herbage quality and persistency in contrasting Northern Ireland soil/climatic environments.
“The work will be undertaken in a fully replicated study over three years, comparing sward productivity on eight farms spread across Northern Ireland.
“In due course the data from the farms will be integrated into a simulation platform, using the AFBI GrazeGro growth prediction model, to provide geographically explicit predictions of alternative forage production and herbage quality of the contrasting sward types and their associated uncertainty.”
Dr Patterson said the results will be presented to farmers, in collaboration with CAFRE and AgriSearch, to help them make better decisions about managing their grassland in different farming situations across Northern Ireland.