How should agricultural research studies be chosen?

egbert

Member
Livestock Farmer
You will find it very difficult to borrow money to buy into new and cutting edge technology without strong peer review, or a recognised reputable institute that has carried out the research.

The drug Industry has many ' get rich quick ' investors who have the scars to prove it. :ROFLMAO:
while its easier than falling off logs to get gov money to play about sequestering carbon...irrespective of how hookie yer science is.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
We are talking about microscopic fibres, invisible to the human eye. They are released from plastic clothing (basically almost everything on the high street) every time it's washed and so end up in sewage works. There's no currently economic way to remove them from the sludge and water so they are getting into rivers then seas and onto land.

I've heard of studies detecting them in everything we eat now, they have become ubiquitous in our environment. They are now part of most human bodies as a result.

And yet campaigners still push to stop us using natural fibres in clothing (wool, cotton and leather) :mad:

Meanwhile good wool is being burnt or composted and good hides are being landfilled. It's criminal!

It's not "vegan leather", it's plastic........

Just had the preliminary results from a few of the samples.

"I'm predominantly finding blue fibres, but there are also lots of clear, black and red fibres. Have seen a couple of fragments too in the <1mm range and some microbeads. I'll start counting and recording tomorrow, today was just about getting an idea of what's in each sample"

This is from one application of sludge last Autumn and one in 2017, both pre OSR.
 
I have just listened to Monday's Farming Today. In it a researcher from Aberystwyth talked about research to measure how long ewes lie down for as a marker of impending lambing. He justified the project saying it would lead to technology to warn shepherds when a ewe was coming up to lambing. He was challenged that this has no value to most flocks as they already know all they need from tupping date and scanning. He then justified it saying it's common in dairy cattle and increasingly used in beef breeding herds.

My first thought was he clearly hadn't thought about it from the farmer viewpoint. Lambing is a full-on 24hr business in most flocks. He claimed it could aid staff planning but I couldn't help thinking he was fighting to justify his research budget.

Are such studies a good use of funds?

How should agricultural research studiy subjects be chosen and funded?

Clearly the researchers have a conflict of interest. They need research to justify their existence. In many sectors, not just agriculture, this leads to research with no application which then seeks a marketable application to justify itself.

Thoughts?
The solution is simple, ask an unqualified farmer the question is this research actually relivant to 24/7 farming in any practical way???
If they say no, then it's a non runner.
 

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