Research

Our research is motivated by the ultimate goal to contribute to achieving a sustainable and resilient agricultural and food sector.

Examples of research areas are listed below.

Climate Change and Agriculture

The agricultural sector contributes to, but is also impacted by climate change.

In the ERA-NET funded project 'SmartDairy' we assess challenges, innovations and solutions to achieve a climate smart food system with a focus on dairy production. In Ireland, we explore how to make carbon trading in the agri-food sector operational. You can find out more about the project here.

Other research focuses on what farmers can do to mitigate climate change. In one project, we explore eco-efficiency of Irish dairy farms and its development over time. In a previous project, we explored the link between productivity improvements and GHG emissions. This work is published in Agricultural Economics and you can find the paper here and a short report here.

Information Provision and Climate Change

Information provision is very important to facilitate the transition to sustainable and resilient food systems, but it is often less effective than anticipated.

For example, one focus of our group is on information provision for farmers to support the uptake of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measures. For this, we conducted a survey that included a randomized information experiment with over 500 livestock farmers in Ireland to test how to increase engagement of farmers with climate change information. You can read a short policy paper published in EuroChoices here.

In a related project, we conducted an information experiment with Irish dairy farmers to investigate behavioural factors in the uptake of clover as a GHG mitigation measure. This work is in collaboration with Teagasc, Ireland.

Animal Health and Welfare

The agricultural sector increasingly receives negative press coverage, for example, due to animal welfare or environmental concerns. Failure to maintain public acceptance could drive negative perceptions and reduce trust, lowering consumer demand and creating legislative or regulatory pressures.

In a previous project, we explored the implication of dairy sector expansion and calf welfare (you can find the paper published in the Journal of Dairy Science here). We also explored the link between animal welfare, altruism and policy support, which is published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics (you can find the paper here). This work was funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

In the same project, we also assessed biosecurity practices and economic outcomes on Irish dairy farms. This paper is published in the Journal of Animal Science (you can find the paper here).