The BovINE project’s multi-actor network expanded further when representatives from the Irish BovINE network team visited Irish nutrition company Devenish’s internationally-recognised research farm on The Devenish Lands at Dowth, County Meath to see some of the good practices and innovations they have under development.
Devenish Nutrition is a global nutrition company with headquarters in Northern Ireland specialising in research, development and manufacturing of specialty products and solutions for the animal feed industry. They have recently been awarded EU funding under the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska Curie European Industrial Doctorate (EID) programme to undertake an exciting project, known as ‘HeartLand’ (Health, Environment, Agriculture, Rural development: Training network for LAND management) involving five creative, entrepreneurial and innovative PhD graduates. Heartland aims to progress scientific agricultural research into the links between soil, animal, human and environmental health. https://heartlandproject.eu/2019/10/21/devenish-launches-major-european-scientific-research-project-on-health-from-soil-to-society/
A comprehensive overview of the objectives and ambitions of the Heartland project was delivered by Dr. John Gilliland, OBE, Director of Global Agriculture and Sustainability at Devenish on the premises of their beautiful Global Innovation Centre, which once served as a charitable alms house for widows and orphans. Through a selection of novel practices and initiatives the Heartland project is supporting Devenish’s ambition to develop a carbon neutral beef farm within a few years.
BovINE project manager Dr. Richard Lynch outside Devenish Global Innovation Centre in Co. Meath, Ireland.
In the afternoon, the Irish network team were given a tour of some of the field research currently been undertaken by the early stage researchers Dr. Cornelia Grace and Jane Shackleton. A visit to their multispecies pastures consisting of mix of grasses, legumes and selected herbs demonstrated the potential to increase live-weight gain, reduce anthelminthic and chemical fertiliser input into beef finishing systems.
BovINE project manager Dr. Richard Lynch commented that “the concept of the Heartland project in examining ruminant production systems through a whole systems perspective mirrors the multi-faceted approach being undertaken in the BovINE project to improve sustainability in beef production systems. The research programme being carried out here which deals with animal health and welfare, environmental sustainability, production efficiency and economic resilience make initiatives such as this, a valuable asset to the Irish and wider European BovINE thematic network. It’s great to be able to connect EU funded projects at national and local levels.”