The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) is set to hold a major dairy open day at its Hillsborough research site later this year.

The theme for the event on June 6 will be 'Dairy Innovation 2018 - profiting from AFBI research'.

The open day will be run in partnership with AgriSearch and the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) and will feature current research work at AFBI in support of the dairy sector.

This will provide the opportunity to view the latest research and also to discuss how AFBI scientists are using the latest technologies to find new ways of optimising farming practices.

Key aspects which will be highlighted include:

Preparing for market uncertainties

Dr. Sinclair Mayne, AFBI chief executive, said: “Given current and future market uncertainties, AFBI’s research is addressing new opportunities to control production costs, increase production efficiency and thereby enhance the competitiveness of the dairy sector in Northern Ireland.

"This open day is an important part of our strategy of engaging directly with farmers and the industry to ensure that the industry gains maximum benefit from our research, and will be held in conjunction with our partners in AgriSearch, Queen’s University and CAFRE.”

This year’s open day will also feature a ‘research village’ with demonstrations on topics such as:

This will include a demonstration of slurry separation at the newly-built Nutrient Management Centre.