Duration 2.5 years commencing January 2003 Team and Leader Dr. Sinclair Mayne, Dr Duncan Anderson and Mr James Murphy Organisations Involved ARINI and The Queens University Belfast Background and Summary The Northern Ireland dairy industry is currently going through a major crisis as a result of very depressed milk prices. Furthermore, current predictions suggest milk price will remain at this level for some time and that there will be more volatility in milk price in the future. Given this scenario, it is clear that milk producers need to re-examine optimal milk production...

Duration Team and Leader Organisations Involved Dairy Council for Northern Ireland Background and Summary Pasteurisation is a fundamental process within in the dairy industry. It is a universally accepted process, which is defined in both national and international regulations. These regulations define minimum time temperature combination and the conditions to be acheived in the pasteurised milk, rather than being prescriptive about the process.  This means that there are different time-temperature combinations that can deliver the required conditions in the pasteurised...

Duration 4 months Team and Leader R. Steen Organisations Involved  ARINI - C.S. Mayne, D. Patterson, A. Carson, and Economics Research Division Background and Summary Ruminant livestock production is facing major challenges brought about mainly by the difficult economic climate which now pervades. It is our view that while new innovative research programmes are in hand to help farmers produce milk, beef and lamb more profitably the first need is for farmers to be made fully aware of the considerable amount of research information which is already available on lower cost...

Duration 12 Months completing December 2005 Team and Leader Organisations Involved  Dairy Council for Northern Ireland, Q.U.B. Newforge Lane. Background and Summary Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberucolosis (MAP), causes Johne's disease (JD) in cattle. Infected dairy cows shed the organism in faeces and in milk. Although not accepted as proven, there is a growing body of medical opinion that suggests that MAP may be a causative agent of Crohn's Disease (CD) in humans.  A recent article in the Lancet, reporting on research in USA, concluded "We detected viable MAP...