Céad Mile Fáilte go T-Stór (Welcome to T- Stór)

Update:  The repository was upgraded in July 2025 to a new DSpace version.

T-Stór is Teagasc’s Open Access Repository, maintained by the Teagasc Library Service. Stór is the Gaelic word for Repository or Store or Warehouse, and T-Stór is an online “store” of Teagasc Research outputs and related documents. T-Stór collects preserves and makes freely available scholarly communication, including peer-reviewed articles, working papers and conference papers created by Teagasc researchers. Where material has already been published it is made available subject to the open-access policies of the original publishers. Click here to read more about Teagasc. 

Featured Items

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A comparison of grassland vegetation from three agri-environment conservation measures

O hUallachain, Daire; Finn, John; Keogh, Blathnaid; Fritch, R.; Sheridan, Helen; Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Programme

Semi-natural grassland habitats have declined significantly throughout Europe. To halt the decline, grassland conservation measures have been included in most European agri-environment schemes. This is the first study to compare the botanical composition of grassland habitats managed under the Irish Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS). Sixty fields on drystock pastoral farms in receipt of agri-environment payments for grassland conservation were surveyed, with 20 fields being enrolled in each of the following AEOS options: Traditional Hay Meadow (THM), Species-Rich Grassland (SRG) and Natura 2000 species-rich grassland (Natura). The vegetation quality of sites enrolled in the Natura measure was higher than the quality of those enrolled in the THM and SRG measures. Natura sites had the greatest species richness, with a mean >40 species per site, which included approximately 17 species indicative of high botanical quality. Traditional Hay Meadows sites had the lowest species richness (mean: 29 species per site) and were dominated by species associated with improved grassland. Some THM sites had good levels of botanical richness and were similar in composition to Natura sites, with some Natura sites having lower vegetation quality, more similar to that of THM sites. Species-Rich Grassland had botanical richness that was intermediate between THM and Natura sites. A thorough assessment of the effectiveness of these measures was confounded by a lack of quantitative objectives for the target community composition to be attained. We discuss limitations and potential opportunities regarding the design, targeting, implementation and cost-effectiveness of these agri-environment measures.

2016-12

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Learning from Agricultural Land Market Regulation Policies in EU Member States

Loughrey, Jason; Geoghegan, Cathal; Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; 2019R414; 2019R414

This article draws from economic theory and the recent European Commission report on agricultural land market regulation to assess the suitability of selected regulatory policies for agricultural land markets in Ireland. Insights from policy in other EU Member States indicates that some flexibility is always required to permit the existence of temporary land leasing contracts. Farmland rental prices in Ireland have mainly followed the underlying returns to agriculture and been much less influenced by speculative bubbles relative to farmland sales markets. The land rental data for 2019 do not point to the need for maximum price regulation. The availability of reliable statistics is not a sufficient condition to prevent bubbles from emerging, but farmland markets need to be closely monitored with up-to-date official statistics informing potential market participants and public policy.

2024-06-18

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The MAP model: approaching behaviour change conversations on farm

Gribben, Laura; Burrell, Alison; Walsh Scholarship

With the increasing focus on preventative medicine, herd health management and sustainability, farmers are continually being challenged to make changes to their farm routine and farm behaviours (Bord Bia, 2022; Svensson et al., 2022). In this context, the role of the veterinary practitioner becomes ever more critical as an advocate for change. However, to fulfil the potential of this role, it has been recognised that veterinary practitioners could benefit from training in evidence-based communication strategies, specifically designed to support behaviour change (Bard et al. 2019). The behavioural sciences such as health psychology have extensively studied the area of behaviour change, exploring its theoretical underpinnings and developing strategies which can be used to encourage it. This has led to a growing interest in adapting behavioural science-based behaviour change communication strategies to the field of veterinary medicine (Svensson et al. 2020a; 2020b; Bard 2018). One such behaviour change communication strategy which may be applicable is the MAP (Motivation, Action and Prompts) of Behaviour Change model (NHS Education for Scotland (NES), 2022).

2023-02

Recent Submissions

  • ItemOpen Access
    Fish Oil for Healthy Aging: Potential Application to Master Athletes
    (2021-09-13) Murphy, Caoileann H.; McGlory, Chris
    Master athletes perform high volumes of exercise training yet display lower levels of physical functioning and exercise performance when compared with younger athletes. Several reports in the clinical literature show that long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC n-3 PUFA) ingestion promotes skeletal muscle anabolism and strength in untrained older persons. There is also evidence that LC n-3 PUFA ingestion improves indices of muscle recovery following damaging exercise in younger persons. These findings suggest that LC n-3 PUFA intake could have an ergogenic effect in master athletes. However, the beneficial effect of LC n-3 PUFA intake on skeletal muscle in response to exercise training in both older and younger persons is inconsistent and, in some cases, generated from low-quality studies or those with a high risk of bias. Other factors such as the choice of placebo and health status of participants also confound interpretation of existing reports. As such, when considered on balance, the available evidence does not indicate that ingestion of LC n-3 PUFAs above current population recommendations (250–500 mg/day; 2 portions of oily fish per week) enhances exercise performance or recovery from exercise training in master athletes. Further work is now needed related to how the dose, duration, and co-ingestion of LC n-3 PUFAs with other nutrients such as amino acids impact the adaptive response to exercise training. This work should also consider how LC n-3 PUFA supplementation may differentially alter the lipid profile of cellular membranes of key regulatory sites such as the sarcolemma, mitochondria, and sarcoplasmic reticulum.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    PSIX-30 Interaction between rumen microbiome and host feed efficiency phenotype across contrasting breeds and dietary sources
    (2024-09-14) Keogh, Kate; Kenny, David A.; Almeida Alexandre, Pâmela; Waters, Sinead; McGovern, Emily; McGee, Mark; Reverter, Antonio; Pâmela
    Provision of feed accounts for a high proportion of the variable cost in beef production systems, and consequently is a major determinant of overall profitability. Thus, improving the conversion of feed to animal product by identifying and breeding cattle with improved feed efficiency potential provides a method through which feed input costs may be reduced, whilst also contributing to more environmentally sustainable beef production. The rumen microbiome dictates the feed degradation capacity and subsequent nutrient supply in ruminants and is thus potentially impacted by feed efficiency phenotype. However, the relationship between rumen microbiota and host feed efficiency phenotype is yet to be fully elucidated. This is further complicated when contrasting diets, cattle breeds as well as various stages of animal development are considered. The objective of this study was to undertake network analysis on rumen microbiome data generated from two contrasting steer breed types (Charolais and Holstein-Friesian), divergent within-breed for residual feed intake (RFI), and offered contrasting diets during different stages of development: i) high-concentrate during the growing phase; ii) grass silage during the growing phase; iii) zero-grazed grass during the growing phase, and iv) high-concentrate during the finishing phase. From approximately 10 mo of age, Charolais (n = 90) and Holstein-Friesian (n = 77) steers were individually fed each of the aforementioned diets for 70 d, following an adaptation period between each diet. At the end of each dietary phase, RFI was determined for every steer and rumen fluid was sampled using a transesophageal sampling device from the 10 most-efficient (Low-RFI) and the 10 least-efficient (High-RFI) steers within each breed. Rumen fluid samples were then subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing and a network-based systems biology analysis subsequently undertaken using PCIT incorporating the 16S sequencing data and individual RFI values across each breed and dietary phase. A total of 110 microbial taxa were connected (P < 0.05; r > 0.8) to the breed and diet contrasts examined; however, no single microbe was commonly connected to all contrasts. The Pyramidobacter genus was the most represented phylotype, displaying a positive connection with the Charolais steers during the grass silage diet, as well as a negative association with Charolais steers during the first high-concentrate diet and Holstein-Friesian steers during the zero-grazed grass diet. Similarly, of the 35 microbial taxa significantly connected to more than one breed/diet contrast, 12 displayed altered direction of association, indicating a differential relationship between the rumen microbiome and RFI phenotype depending on the prevailing dietary management. Acknowledgement: The animal model used in this study was funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (RSF13/S/519). Kate Keogh received funding for this work from the Research Leaders 2025 program (co-funded by Teagasc and the European Union’s Horizon 2020, Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement number 754380).
  • ItemOpen Access
    SMRT–AgRenSeq-d in potato (Solanum tuberosum) as a method to identify candidates for the nematode resistance Gpa5
    (2023-11-11) Wang, Yuhan; Brown, Lynn H.; Adams, Thomas M.; Cheung, YukWoon; Li, Jie; Vanessa, Vanessa; Tod, Drummond T.; Armstrong, Miles R.; Neugebauer, Konrad; Kaur, Amanpreet; Harrower, Brian; Oome, Stan; Wang, Xiaodan; Bayer, Micha; Hein, Ingo
    Potato is the third most important food crop in the world. Diverse pathogens threaten sustainable crop production but can be controlled, in many cases, through the deployment of disease resistance genes belonging to the family of nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich-repeat (NLR) genes. To identify effective disease resistance genes in established varieties, we have successfully established SMRT–AgRenSeq in tetraploid potatoes and have further enhanced the methodology by including dRenSeq in an approach that we term SMR–AgRenSeq-d. The inclusion of dRenSeq enables the filtering of candidates after the association analysis by establishing a presence/absence matrix across resistant and susceptible varieties that is translated into an F1 score. Using a SMRT–RenSeq-based sequence representation of the NLRome from the cultivar Innovator, SMRT–AgRenSeq-d analyses reliably identified the late blight resistance benchmark genes Rpi-R1, Rpi-R2-like, Rpi-R3a, and Rpi-R3b in a panel of 117 varieties with variable phenotype penetrations. All benchmark genes were identified with an F1 score of 1, which indicates absolute linkage in the panel. This method also identified nine strong candidates for Gpa5 that controls the potato cyst nematode (PCN) species Globodera pallida (pathotypes Pa2/3). Assuming that NLRs are involved in controlling many types of resistances, SMRT–AgRenSeq-d can readily be applied to diverse crops and pathogen systems.
  • ItemOpen Access
    First report of the Phytophthora infestans EU_43_A1 clonal lineage and associated PiCesA3 mutation G1105S in Ireland
    (2024-04-29) Kaur, A.; Doyle, D.; Cooke, D.E.L.; Mullins, E.; Kildea, S.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Transcriptional profiling during infection of potato NLRs and Phytophthora infestans effectors using cDNA enrichment sequencing
    (2024-10-17) Kaur, Amanpreet; Singh, Vikrant; Byrne, Stephen; Armstrong, Miles; Adams, Thomas M.; Harrower, Brian; Gilroy, Eleanor; Mullins, Ewen; Hein, Ingo
    An accurate assessment of host and pathogen gene expression during infection is critical for understanding the molecular aspects of host-pathogen interactions. Often, pathogen-derived transcripts are difficult to ascertain at early infection stages owing to the unfavourable transcript representation compared to the host genes. In this study, we compare two sequencing techniques, RNAseq and enrichment sequencing (RenSeq and PenSeq) of cDNA, to investigate gene expression patterns in the doubled monoploid potato (DM) infected with the late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Our results reveal distinct advantages of cDNA RenSeq and PenSeq over traditional RNAseq in terms of target gene representation and transcriptional quantification at early infection stages. Throughout the infection time course, cDNA enrichment sequencing enables transcriptomic analyses for more targeted host and pathogen genes. For highly expressed genes that were sampled in parallel by both cDNA enrichment and RNAseq, a high level of concordance in expression profiles is observed, indicative of at least semi-quantitative gene expression representation following enrichment.
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