The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has announced that it will join forces with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and AgriSearch to host webinars for Northern Ireland’s farmers.

The union said today (Monday, September 18) that the five webinars are specifically focused on applying research to “common farming situations” and will provide solutions that increase the sustainability of agriculture in Northern Ireland.

The series of webinars will be held online via Zoom, with the first taking place on September 26, 2023 at 8:00p.m.

The themes the webinars are set to address include:

  • Increasing production efficiency;
  • Resilient grassland management;
  • Dairy nutrition;
  • Nutrient management in grassland;
  • Farm case studies of carbon benchmarking.

UFU president David Brown said “There are a number of challenges facing the agricultural industry.

“Research and science will help us to address these challenges whilst improving efficiencies and reducing costs on farms.

“These webinars, which will also serve as our contribution to Countryside COP3, will show how farmers can make simple changes supported by scientific evidence, to improve the sustainability of their business.”

The webinars are free to attend but registration is necessary. Those interested in registering should visit the UFU’s website.

Webinars

General manager of AgriSearch, Jason Rankin, said the webinars will showcase AgriSearch’s work with farms in Northern Ireland on farming solutions.

“AgriSearch have been working with farmers from across Northern Ireland to explore science based, innovative practices which deliver both farm profitability and for the environment,” he said.

“The webinars will showcase a selection of these with a series of videos showing the practices in action.”

AFBI director of sustainable agri-food sciences, Dr. Elizabeth Magowan, said: “AFBI are delighted to partner with the UFU and AgriSearch to bring forward this series of five webinars.

“The webinars are designed to provide farmers with solutions that are underpinned by scientific evidence and demonstrate how these solutions are being employed on farms in Northern Ireland.

“The rapid adoption of evidence based solutions to improve the environmental impact and support farm profitability is essential to enable the Northern Ireland farming industry to be world leading into the future.”