Organisation profile
Organisation profile
The Dairy Research and Innovation Centre is part of the South and West Faculty in the Department of Agriculture and Business Management.
The Dairy Research and Innovation Centre is based at Crichton Royal Farm, Dumfries. It aims to develop, implement and provide information from sustainable breeding and management systems for dairy cows. Critical objectives include finding ways to improve the health and welfare of UK dairy herds and measuring different systems’ effects on the environment. Our work increasingly considers the carbon footprint, biodiversity and soil health aspects of dairy production.
Dairy systems research is performed with the Langhill pedigree herd, selected since 1970 as a high genetic merit line and a control line for the production of milk solids (fat and protein).
These cattle are managed on two distinctly different management systems – the design of these systems changes every 5 years, with comparisons designed to both challenge the genetic potential of the different genetic lines and test innovative concepts in dairy systems.
The detailed recording of these animals presents many opportunities for a diverse range of add-on monitoring projects – from lameness detection through to proxies for feed efficiency and methane emissions.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Our work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 15 Life on Land
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Profiles
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Loubna Abou El Qassim
- Agriculture & Business Management, Dairy Research Centre - Research Associate
- Scotland's Rural College - Research Associate
Person: Academic contract that is research only
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Matt Broadbent
- Agriculture & Business Management, Dairy Research Centre - Reader
- Scotland's Rural College - Reader
Person: Academic contract that is research only
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Feeding and Funding Low Emission Dairy: Developing Novel English-Grown Faba Bean Feeds and a Carbon Insetting Mechanism to Monetise Emissions Reductions for Farmers
Newbold, J. (PI), Houdijk, J. (CoI) & Nisbet, H. (Researcher)
1/12/25 → 30/11/28
Project: Research
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Early indicators to monitor changes in soil health: evidence to update guidance for UK farmers
Fraser, F. (PI), Watson, C. (CoI) & Hargreaves, P. (CoI)
13/10/25 → 27/03/26
Project: Research
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Development of a multiplex molecular assay for on-site hygiene monitoring in dairy processing
Shalaby, M. (PI) & Dewhurst, R. (CoPI)
1/09/25 → 31/08/26
Project: Research
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Better outcomes for ‘surplus’ dairy calves
Haskell, M. & Ferguson, H., 12 Feb 2026, SEFARI. 3 p.Research output: Book/Report/Policy Brief/Technical Brief › Policy Brief
Open AccessFile -
High Wood Content / Poly(Butylene Succinate) Composites 3D-Printed by Fused Granulate Fabrication
Platnieks, O., Ponkratenkova, A., Nabels-Sneiders, M., Veidmanis, D., Smits, K., Thakur, V. K. & Gaidukovs, S., Mar 2026, In: Polymer Testing. 156, 109121.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Predicting beef diet nutritional composition and intake from rumen metagenomic profiles
Saez-Torillo, S. N., Danielsson, R., Nguyen, T., Patricia Do Jardim Goncalves Lima, J., Cleveland, M. A., Roehe, R. & Martínez-Álvaro, M., 6 Jan 2026, (First published) In: Animal Nutrition. 48 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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Additional file 2 of Microbiome-driven breeding strategy potentially improves beef fatty acid profile benefiting human health and reduces methane emissions
Martínez-Álvaro, M. (Creator), Mattock, J. (Creator), Auffret, M. (Creator), Weng, Z. (Creator), Duthie, C.-A. (Creator), Dewhurst, R. J. (Creator), Cleveland, M. A. (Creator), Watson, M. (Creator) & Roehe, R. (Creator), Figshare, 2022
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.21285707.v1, https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Additional_file_2_of_Microbiome-driven_breeding_strategy_potentially_improves_beef_fatty_acid_profile_benefiting_human_health_and_reduces_methane_emissions/21285707/1
Dataset
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Comparative analysis of the anthelmintic efficacy of European heather extracts on Teladorsagia circumcincta and Trichostrongylus colubriformis egg hatching and larval motility
Shepherd, F. (Creator), Chylinski, C. (Creator), Hutchings, M. R. (Creator), Lima, J. (Creator), Davidson, R. (Creator), Kelly, R. (Creator), Macrae, A. (Creator), Salminen, J.-P. (Creator), Engström, M. T. (Creator), Maurer, V. (Creator), Steinshamn, H. (Creator), Fittje, S. (Creator), Perez, A. M. (Creator), García, R. R. (Creator) & Athanasiadou, S. (Creator), Figshare, 2022
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6283832, https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/Comparative_analysis_of_the_anthelmintic_efficacy_of_European_heather_extracts_on_Teladorsagia_circumcincta_and_Trichostrongylus_colubriformis_egg_hatching_and_larval_motility/6283832
Dataset
Prizes
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New technology & data - tools for advisors Workshop at EUFRAS - Sep2024
Salavati, M. (Speaker)
10 Sept 2024Activity: Talk, evidence or presentation types › Invited talk
File -
British Standards Institution (External organisation)
Salavati, M. (Member)
Mar 2024Activity: Membership types › Membership of panel
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Hannah Dairy Research Foundation Conference 2024
Salavati, M. (Speaker)
18 Nov 2024Activity: Talk, evidence or presentation types › Invited talk