About GrassCheck
Grassland: Northern Ireland’s Competitive Advantage
Northern Ireland’s mild, moist climate provides a natural advantage for growing and utilising high yields of high-quality grass, supporting efficient and sustainable milk and meat production. However, this potential is not always fully realised on farm.
There is significant variation across the sector in how much grass is grown, utilised and measured. Improving grassland management represents a major opportunity to increase profitability, reduce reliance on purchased feed and enhance environmental sustainability.
GrassCheck is an AgriSearch programme delivered in partnership with AFBI and CAFRE designed to close this gap.
Through structured grass measurement, consistent data recording and active knowledge exchange, GrassCheck supports farmers to make informed, evidence-based decisions. AgriSearch is investing over £400,000 in the programme over three years, with 53 farmers participating in 2026 across dairy, beef and sheep systems.
Participating farms measure grass weekly and record key data including stocking rate, livestock demand and nutrient applications, generating a robust dataset to support on-farm decision-making, benchmarking, grass growth forecasting and research.
Project Objectives
GrassCheck focuses on three key areas: Demonstrate, Record and Knowledge Exchange.
Demonstrate & Record
Provide real commercial farm examples, underpinned by high-quality, consistent data collection, to showcase how data-driven grassland management can improve profitability, efficiency and sustainability. This is achieved through regular grass measurement and accurate recording of livestock and nutrient inputs to support on-farm decision-making, modelling and research.
1. Measuring and quantifying grass grown and utilised on farm.
2. Optimising average farm cover throughout the grazing season, alongside pre- and post-grazing targets.
3. Maximising the number of grazings per paddock to increase total dry matter production.
4. Maximising total days at grass to reduce reliance on housed feeding.
5. Improving soil health — chemical, physical, and biological — through regular soil testing and optimal nutrient management.
6. Strengthening grassland infrastructure (paddock design, roadways and water systems) to increase accessibility, utilisation and grass production.
7. Improving sward composition through effective reseeding strategies and incorporating legumes where appropriate.
Knowledge Exchange
Provide the link between research and practical farming, using GrassCheck farms to demonstrate best practice for the wider industry. While 53 farmers participate directly, the programme shares knowledge across the sector through farm walks, social media videos, podcasts, press articles and industry events.
The weekly bulletin and newsletters combine practical advisory information, current grass growth and quality data, weather information, 7- and 14-day grass growth forecasts, and real-time performance data from GrassCheck farms. This provides farmers with a clear picture of current conditions, expected growth and how leading farms are performing, helping them make more informed grazing and management decisions on their own farms.