25 February 2025: Pictured at the launch of a €1 million state-of-the-art dairy calf rearing centre at UCD Lyons Farm, Co.Kildare, are (L to R): JohnTyrell - Dairy Research Ireland, John Herlihy - FBD Insurance, Prof. Karina Pierce - UCD, Stephen Connolly - ABP, Prof. Cecily Kelleher, UCD, Prof. Orla Feely - President UCD, Conor Galvin - Ornua, Alan Kelly - UCD, Prof. Alex Evans - UCD, John Concannon - JFC, Lance Woods, MSD, Michael Berkery - FBD Trust.
A new €1 million state-of-the-art centre that will apply cutting-edge research to benefit and improve the health and the rearing of dairy calves has been opened at UCD Lyons Farm.
The Dairy Calf Education and Research Facility will provide agriculture and veterinary students with hands-on experience in the best practice of calf rearing, while also greatly expanding the national research capacity of dairy heifer research - with a focus on early life nutrition, better integration of dairy and beef, and environmental impact. Designed to fulfil both research and commercial farming requirements, and demonstrate best practice in dairy calf rearing, the new facility has the capacity to rear 180 dairy calves from birth up to 5 months of age.
Utilising the best knowledge both nationally and internationally in calf housing, the facility will allow researchers to continuously monitor and assess key factors in calf rearing such as growth, feed intake and efficiency, health, welfare and behaviour indicators.
“University College Dublin is the only university in Ireland to have its own dedicated
research and teaching farm,” said UCD President, Professor Orla Feely. “This remarkable 250-hectare working farm, Lyons Farm, provides our faculty, researchers and students with an unparalleled agricultural environment in which to teach, research and learn.”“The addition of this new world-class Dairy Calf Education and Research Facility to
UCD Lyons Farm, made possible through the generous support of six industry partners, Dairy Research Ireland, FBD Trust, JFC, MSD, Ornua, and ABP, will ensure University College Dublin remains at the vanguard of agricultural and veterinary research, and plays a critical role in the future success of Irish dairy and beef production,” she concluded.
“We are very grateful for the support of our industry partners in making this development a reality,” said Professor Alex Evans, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science and Chair of Lyons Farm Management Committee.“By enhancing our understanding of the impact of early life nutrition on dairy calf health and productivity, we are paving the way for the next generation of agricultural leaders and ensuring a stronger, more resilient future for dairy and beef farming across the country.”
Following the abolition of European milk quotas in 2015, there has been a substantial expansion in the Irish dairy industry, with the national dairy herd increasing by 45% in the past decade.
The consequence of such an increase is that the calf rearing stage has now become a critical phase of the production cycle in both dairy and calf-to-beef systems, with rearing practices and livestock health coming under increased scrutiny.
Unique to the new facility is that its dairy calf rearing/research program is integrated into pre-existing whole farm research systems in operation at Lyons Farm, allowing for the examination of the long term benefits that early intervention can have to the lifetime productivity of dairy calves, farm profitability and environmental footprint.
UCD Lyons Farm, one of the main hubs for UCD agricultural and veterinary research and teaching, is a fully functioning farm comprising 250 hectares of land in Co. Kildare, with dairy, beef, sheep, equine, crop and environmental research, teaching and commercial facilities.
