A multi-million pound facility aimed at driving innovation and sustainability in the dairy sector is to open at Scotland’s Rural College’s (SRUC) Barony Campus next month.
SRUC is leading the Dairy Nexus project, which was awarded up to £8 million from the UK and Scottish Government’s and £738,000 from South of Scotland Enterprise.
Portakabin is delivering the build of the facility at the Barony Campus, which sits in the heart of a major dairy producing region in Dumfries and Galloway – with four major processors and around 50 artisan producers employing 1,350 people across the region.
The Dairy Nexus will facilitate collaboration between researchers, advisors, farmers, and businesses in the dairy sector to identify and solve real-world problems and take opportunities to improve productivity and sustainability.
The investment in the Dairy Nexus – which includes equipment to measure multiple aspects of dairy farm technical performance, supported by laboratories and meeting spaces – will provide a ‘significant’ boost to the region’s capabilities for dairy innovation, SRUC said.
From fine-tuning dairy nutrition to improve the nutritional value of milk and the yield of cheese, to measuring the effect of genetic selection on cows’ methane emissions and understanding how different forage crops affect soil health and biodiversity, the Dairy Nexus is aiming to decarbonise the dairy sector.
Deputy first minister Kate Forbes said, “The Scottish Government is investing £4 million in this project, supporting research and innovation to deliver a sustainable future for Scottish dairy farming.
“Our green industrial strategy has set out measures to work with business to grasp the opportunities of the transition to net zero.
“The Dairy Nexus is a great example of driving rural innovation to make the sector more productive as part of efforts to cut carbon emissions.”
