New €4.8m agtech and herd-health hub for Lyons Farm
Construction of a €4.8m ag-tech innovation and herd-health hub is expected to be completed at University College Dublin’s (UCD) Lyons Farm in quarter three of 2023. Funded by Enterprise Ireland, UCD, and a philanthropic donation from manufacturer and distributor of veterinary pharmaceuticals and animal-health products, Bimeda, the state-of-the art facility will include lab spaces, meeting rooms, offices and an exhibition space.
The development of the AgTechUCD Innovation Centre and the UCD Bimeda Herd Health Hub ‘represents a new phase in UCD’s commitment to innovation, entrepreneurship and outreach in areas of agriculture, food and veterinary medicine’, according to Professor Alex Evans, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science. “This farm-based facility will co-locate educators, researchers, innovators and service providers in a single location allowing them to work together on enhancing Ireland’s capabilities and progress in agricultural and veterinary sciences,” he said.
UCD Lyons Farm, the university’s research and teaching farm, located in Kildare, is a fully functioning farm comprising of 250 hectares of land, with dairy, beef, sheep, equine, crop and environmental research, teaching and commercial facilities.
The AgTechUCD Innovation Centre will promote and accelerate early-stage start-ups and SMEs with disruptive innovations in the agri, agtech, agrifood and veterinary sectors, as they build their innovative businesses into leading enterprises creating jobs. Director, AgTechUCD Innovation Centre, Niamh Collins, said: “As the only on-farm workspace hub in Ireland focused on promoting and accelerating agri-businesses and start-ups the AgTechUCD Innovation Centre will assist client companies to access on-farm experimental facilities, enabling them to test and trial products and services in a real-world environment.
The establishment of the UCD Bimeda Herd Health Hub will provide a national facility for dairy herd-health education, research and consultancy and is an important strategic development for the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine. Chair of Bimeda Animal Health, Donal Tierney, said: “We are delighted to be associated with the UCD Bimeda Herd Health Hub and the contribution it will make to the development of the agritech sector in Ireland. Bimeda is an Irish-owned company founded 50 years ago. Our association with UCD Lyons Farm in establishing the UCD Bimeda Herd Health Hub recognises the contribution the agricultural sector has made to the success of Bimeda worldwide.” Dean and head of UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, Professor Michael Doherty, added: “We are delighted that construction of the UCD Bimeda Herd Health Hub has commenced at UCD Lyons Farm. Dairy herd health is an important element of UCD’s One Health initiative which is focused on maximising the health and wellbeing of people, animals, and the environment.
“In addition, [the hub] will support the delivery of state-of-the art training to undergraduate and postgraduate students in the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine.”
The development of the UCD Bimeda Herd Health Hub will also support the provision of UCD’s flagship distance-learning graduate certificate in dairy herd health.