UCD commences development on €4.8m AgTech and herd health education facilities

/ 5th December 2022 /

University College Dublin (UCD) has commenced a €4.8m development on the proposed AgTechUCD Innovation Centre and UCD Bimeda Herd Health Club at UCD Lyons Farm, the university's research and testing farm in Co Kildare.

Enterprise Ireland has provided funding for the construction of the state-of-the-art facilities through the Regional Enterprise Development Fund, with UCD and veterinary pharmaceutical company Bimeda also contributing.

Lyons Farm comprises 250 hectares of land and features dairy, beef, sheep, equine, crop and environmental research, teaching and commercial facilities. The buildings will cover 890 sq m and 120 sq m, respectively.

Construction of the AgTechUCD Innovation Centre and the UCD Bimeda Herd Health Hub is expected to be completed in autumn next year and facilities will include flexible laboratory spaces, meeting rooms, offices and an exhibition space.

"It is so exciting to see the development of the AgTechUCD Innovation Centre and the UCD Bimeda Herd Health Hub at UCD Lyons Farm. This represents a new phase in UCD’s commitment to innovation, entrepreneurship and outreach in the areas of agriculture, food and veterinary medicine," said Prof Alex Evans, of 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.”

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.

Niamh Collins, director of AgTechUCD Innovation Centre, 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.

"Clients will also have access to office and lab space, preferred access to UCD food processing facilities, and facilitated introductions to VCs and business angels, mentors and corporate partners.”

The UCD Bimeda Herd Health Hub will provide a national facility for dairy herd health education, research and consultancy in an important strategic development for the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine.

It will also support the provision of UCD's distance-learning graduate programme, the Graduate Certificate in Dairy Herd Health, which trains vets to use tools for analysis of herd data and teaches practical herd evaluation skills.

Donal Tierney, chairman of Bimeda Animal Health 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.”

Prof Michael Doherty, dean and head of UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, 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 well-being of people, animals and the environment.

"We are looking forward to collaborating with Bimeda as an industry partner in research activities focused on furthering our understanding of the health of dairy herds.”

AgTechUC is part of NovaUCD and is a collaboration with AIB, Kildare County Council and the Kildare Local Enterprise Office as well as agri companies Devenish, Carbery and Ornua, investors the Yield Lab Europe, Thrive/SVG ventures Finistere and Atlantic Bridge, and AgTech researchers as Teagasc and Wageningen.