Research and knowledge exchange

AHDB is the major funder of applied agricultural and horticultural research and knowledge exchange (KE) in the UK.

About 50% of the levy collected is invested in this technical programme. As a result of recent strategic changes in AHDB, research and KE programmes are now being re-aligned to address the new AHDB three-year strategy, set out in the document AHDB Strategy 2017–2020: Inspiring success.

This identifies four high‑level strategic priorities which will be delivered via sector‑specific activities covering the full range of AHDB’s operations. The technical research and knowledge exchange components of those sector activities will be delivered via work programmes grouped under six outcome-based themes (see the AHDB Research and Knowledge Exchange Framework opposite).

This will see a move towards most research projects being commissioned via competitive tender. Although there will still be some opportunities for responsive mode proposals, these will require a strong business case and/or offer significant co‑funding opportunities

AHDB research and knowledge exchange framework

AHDB KE builds on the fact that we are unique in being able to blend farm economics and skills development with technical advances and innovation.

KE activities will take the outputs arising from work done under the six themes and deliver them to the industry via four new programmes that themselves contribute to two new delivery platforms.

Feedback on industry priorities from the sector-orientated KE programmes will inform the direction of future research and KE programmes within the context of the AHDB strategy.

Research and knowledge exchange themes

Theme 1: Realising genetic potential

Turning data into genetic information by:
Understanding the genetic basis of resistance and resilience to animal and plant pests and diseases	Understanding novel genetic techniques and their practical application in plant and animal genetics
Developing and evaluating new plant variety and animal traits	Coordinating and sharing knowledge on research tools and techniques
Understanding quality traits for healthy food	Coordinating activity in animal breeding research and evaluation

Theme 2: Building sustainable plant and animal health

Improving knowledge exchange and practice by:
Understanding, monitoring and management of animal and plant pests and diseases	Developing and evaluating strategies and tools to reduce the threat of anti-microbial resistance (AMR)
Developing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems	Understanding disease epidemiology and pest population dynamics
Evaluating practical methods to understand and minimise pest, weed and disease resistance risk	Developing monitoring tools and analysing and interpreting data form them
Developing animal disease control strategies, including new initiatives and diagnostics and decision support tools	Identifying gaps in the current plant protection product armoury, emergency use of pesticides and regulatory issues

Theme 3: Managing resources efficiently and sustainably

Becoming more competitive and sustainable by:
Developing nutritional strategies for livestock, including neonatal nutrition and young stock rearing	Understanding and monitoring of environmental issues
Evaluating novel animal feeds and feeding systems	Maintaining and improving soil health
Improving grazing and conversion	Facilitating the development of responsibly sourced growing media
Investigating alternative forages and novel forage traits	Developing more resilient farming systems
Understanding and monitoring of crop physiology, crop nutrition, agronomy and crop storage solutions

Theme 4: Driving precision technology into practice

Independent, evidence-based information and evaluation of tools and technology by:
Linking sensor data to biological processes to influence management decisions	Demonstrating innovative robotics and their practical application
Analysing and exploiting large data sets to understand current practice and future impact on farm practice and economics	Evaluating the use of telemetry in precision livestock farming
Identifying novel technologies in other industries for application in agriculture and horticulture	Evaluating on-site and remote sensor applications
Understanding data ownership, quality and curation

Theme 5: Facilitating trusted food in the supply chain

Understand and deliver what customers will buy by:
Improving raw product quality to meet current and future supply chain needs	Promoting the nutritional value and specific human health benefits of meat and crops
Understanding and monitoring food safety issues and changes in legislation	Developing systems for understanding the provenance and verification of food
Evaluating the impact of new production methods on food safety	Understanding nutrient utilisation in plants to maximise storage quality
Understanding factors affecting meat and crop quality

Theme 6: Honing business and technical skills

Improve and grow businesses and build the agriculture and horticulture industry profile by:
Supporting PhDs, bursaries and fellowships	LEAN management systems
Technical and business up-skilling of farmers, growers and consultants through CPD schemes	Farm management accounting and decision support
Understanding the drivers and influencers of farmer decision making	International competitiveness and competitor production costs and performance
Understanding attitudes and perceptions to risk and understanding behaviour change	Analysis and review of farm production costs

Knowledge exchange: Programmes

KE Programme 1: Network building

Achieving more by working together by:
Collaborating with third parties to deliver KE (eg discussion groups and technical events) Developing a suite of activities targeting third party knowledge providers (eg vets, nutritionists, consultants, agronomists) so they access "state of the art" knowledge and information

KE programme 2: Supply chain integration

Building connectivity through supply chains to improve marketability by:
Developing and supporting processes for improved traceability Identifying and measuring consumer and processor quality Enabling better feedback to producers to support them in meeting market specifications

KE programme 3: Business development

Developing an industry fit for the future by:
Developing a fully integrated business skills development programme Enabling access to statistical data on farm costs Promoting careers for the agri-food and horticulture industries Developing a broad skills initiative to provide a joined-up approach to accreditation, development and delivery

KE programme 4: Intelligence gathering

Listening, learning and sharing by:
Collecting data on key industry performance indicators Keeping an ear to the ground in the regions for industry priorities and concerns Enabling early warning of critical issues Understanding the international technical, business and market landscape

Farm Excellence

Discover how our reserach and knowledge exchange is put into practice on farms across Britain

Research and Knowledge Exchange funding applications

Explore our current funding opportunities

Tools

Learn more about the tools we've developed as part of our KE activity