Research

The aim of this project is to identify the causes of ear tag losses for sheep and cattle in Scotland.  Ear tag loss incurs costs to individual farmers and there is a range of impacts to animal health and welfare. There is a lack of evidence about missing ear tags in sheep and cattle. This project aims is supporting the prevention of tag loss and to improving retention rates by identifying factors which cause tag loss and reasons for missing ear tags on different farm settings in sheep and cattle.

With the phase-out of remaining cages by 2025, we address welfare solutions for egg-laying hens housed in barns or free-range. We investigate breeding for duller beaks or diet changes to reduce feather pecking, develop evidence-based advice for producers to reduce keel-bone fractures, and investigate the feasibility of alternative house designs (e.g. verandas) to address welfare concerns when free range birds must be confined for biosecurity.

This project investigates the environmental impacts of grazing and the use of traditional wormers along with an assessment of the impacts of a range of alternative parasite management strategies on livestock productivity and environmental impact.

This project contributes towards supporting Scotland’s dietary and climate targets though supply-chain-driven food and drink reformulation. This will be achieved through developing new supply chain networks for crops that can be sustainably produced in Scotland. We are developing innovative prototype products for multi-sector use, which we will widely disseminate to encourage wider adoption.

This project explores the macro land-use changes needed to achieve the challenging Scottish Government objectives of delivering NetZero and other environmental objectives. We assess how widely technical or behavioural changes can be applied and barriers to their success.  This means reflecting with policy teams on the robustness of policy narratives and looking for opportunities to increase policy coherence. 

This project identifies emerging research on natural capital metrics and values from across Scottish Government research in areas including greenspace, water, soils, and biodiversity. Remaining, priority, valuation gaps are being filled and natural capital risks and opportunities will be mapped. 

This project uses mixed data and methods, including participatory and experimental approaches and community engagement, to create an advanced model of Scotland’s rural economy, and provides insights into how the benefits of plausible and aspirational economic scenarios could overlap with community- and place-based assets. It assesses progress towards a green recovery and just transition.

Changing policy, market and environmental conditions necessitate diversification in Scotland’s agricultural systems. This project identifies barriers to the adoption of novel crops and cropping systems, develop innovative technical solutions and explore the consequences of change amongst rural and wider society. 

This project answers some of the key questions related to the spread of zoonotic pathogens and will inform on transmission events of pathogens between livestock and humans (and vice versa). In addition, this project offers potential practical solutions to the increase in spread of vectors (ticks) and associated  diseases. We are also developing and consolidating approaches quickly adaptable to the investigation of zoonotic outbreaks and/or newly emerging diseases as required. 

This project is investigating the spread of tick-transmitted zoonotic pathogens to generate knowledge directly applicable to the management of green spaces and wildlife. In particular, we are assessing potential practical solutions to the increase in spread of vectors (ticks) and associated diseases.