The network aims to offer farmers the opportunity to see new dairy, arable, sheep and beef technology in operation on working farms to encourage them to adopt innovations within their own enterprises.
CAFRE beef technologist Noel Lavery and CAFRE advisers Rachel Megarrell and Adam Jones work closely with the two new farms. John McHenry (pictured top), recently said: “I am in a Business Development Group and I really enjoyed the visits that my group made to a number of TDF farms online over the past winter months."As a new Beef Grassland Management TDF farmer, I am currently getting ready to host groups of farmers, with the first visits expected to occur in June.”The Technology Demonstration Farm network now includes 31 farms, with plans to appoint a further two Crop and six Environmental TDFs in the very near future. The Business Development Groups Scheme and the new Technology Demonstration Farms are funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and the European Union fund under the Innovation Technology Evaluation Demonstration (ITED) Scheme, as part of the Rural Development Programme.
