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Northern Ireland’s inshore fisheries have recently been highlighted in a stakeholder review as lacking a sufficient database for the development and management of a sustainable and profitable sector.

Marine Environment Project: Variability in plankton and its influence on fish recruitment

This Biosecurity Code for Northern Ireland farms, and guidance for official visitors to farm properties and recreational users of farmland, describes measures that can reduce significantly the risk of diseases spreading to farms.

Project objective: This project builds on previous DARD funded research (Projects 0290) which has been used effectively by CAFRE technologies to advise the pig industry on best management practices and by pig producers to improve productivity.

Project: Factors affecting pig production efficiency

Project objective: the objective of this project is to provide more effective breeding and management tools to control lameness in the Northern Ireland sheep industry.

Services provided by CSB including residue testing, validation, scientific training and consultancy work

The Biodiversity Unit based at Newforge Lane has been responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of DAERA’s agri-environment (AE) schemes in Northern Ireland for over 20 years. Specifically, AFBI scientific staff have expertise in biodiversity assessments in relation to habitats, plants, invertebrates and mammal species.

Project objective: This project builds on earlier research undertaken by the Pig Research team at AFBI Hillsborough, and significantly links with additional expertise in AFBI within the areas of meat quality and PMWS control.

Assessment of Outer Ards Modiolus modiolus biogenic reefs against Special Area of Conservation (SAC) criteria. 

Animal disease surveillance reports 2020

Scientific projects carried out by AFBI include: 'To improve nutrient efficiency to lower environmental impact', 'To investigate protein and energy levels in growing pig diets', 'Nutrient balances on grazed grassland', 'The nature, causes and management of spatial variability in forage grass' production', 'Measurement, modelling and management of nutrient fluxes in grass-based agriculture', 'Surface applied soil conditioners and soil water relations - influence on P loss from grassland', 'Interactions between the phosphorus content of cattle manure and losses of phosphorus in surface runoff following manure applications to grassland', 'Improving the nitrogen use efficiency of fertiliser urea' and 'The effect of increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in temperate grassland soils'.

AFBI Hillsborough evaluated the performances of a brushed screen separator and a decanting centrifuge with pig and cattle slurries. The effects of adding coagulant and polyelectrolyte to the slurries (chemical treatment) on separator efficiencies were also evaluated.

This report considers the impacts of reducing direct payment support to UK agriculture following Brexit, against a backdrop of alternative future trading relationships.