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U.S.-Ireland Research and Development Partnership: Agriculture

The U.S.-Ireland R&D Partnership was launched in 2006 to accelerate economic development and cooperation across borders by encouraging trilateral research collaboration between the United States, Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland. 

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Republic of Ireland Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM) and the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) launched a five-year pilot (pilot) adding agriculture as a Partnership priority area. During the pilot, the partners capitalized investments in research intended to help solve global agriculture-related issues.  Following the successful conclusion of the pilot, USDA, DAFM and DAERA have continued to support and expand agriculture as a priority area under the Partnership.
 
The Call in Agriculture allows Principal Investigators/Project Directors (PI/PD) from the United States (U.S.), Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (RoI) to collaborate in response to calls for proposals in select program area priorities in the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Agricultural and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Foundational and Applied Science Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). 
 
There must be at least one PI/PD from each jurisdiction, with the U.S. partner bearing responsibility for submission of the joint “tri-partite” proposal to USDA/NIFA. If approved for funding by NIFA, DAFM funds the RoI investigator(s), DAERA funds the NI investigator(s), and NIFA funds the U.S. investigator(s). 
 
Applications may be submitted in the following 12 Program Area Priorities:

Program Area Priority Name in AFRI 2026 NOFO

AFRI Deadline

Bioeconomy and Biobased Products (A1414)TBD
Biorefining and Biomanufacturing (A1531)TBD
Soil Health (A1401)TBD
Landscape-Scale Production Systems (A1451)TBD
Mitigating Antimicrobial Resistance Across the Food Chain (A1366)TBD
Agricultural Microbiomes in Plant Systems and Natural Resources (A1402)TBD
Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural Production Systems (A1112)TBD
Animal Nutrition, Growth, and Lactation (A1231)TBD
Welfare of Agricultural Animals (A1251)TBD
Diseases of Agricultural Animals (A1221)TBD
Animal Breeding, Genetics and Genomics (A1201)TBD
Data Science for Food and Agricultural Systems (DSFAS) (A1541)TBD


The FY 2026 USDA-NIFA AFRI Foundational and Applied Science NOFO is available. Please visit the AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program to apply. 

Applicants are encouraged to read the FAQs for this partnership. For more information on the DAFM and DAERA application process, please visit the DAFM  website and DAERA  website.

Webinars

U.S.-Ireland Research and Development Partnership FY 2022 Presentation

Funded Projects

Topic: Automated Piglet and Sow Monitoring for Early Detection of At-Risk Piglets
Institutions Involved: Michigan State University, Teagasc, Queen’s University Belfast
 
Topic: Sustainable Production of 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid and Biopolymers from Biomass
Institutions involved: Kansas State University, Southeast Technological University, Ulster University
 
Topic:  Improved Pig Health through the Novel Application of SynBio in Phage Therapy (Phage SUAS)
Institutions involved: University of Wisconsin, Teagasc, Queens University of Belfast, and University College Cork
 
Topic:  Characterization of the respiratory microbiome and virome associated with Bovine Respiratory 
Institutions involved: USDA Agricultural Research Service, Teagasc, and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute
 
Topic: Targeted genome editing to enhance resistance to Mycobacterium bovis infection in domestic cattle populations
Institutions involved: Acceligen/Recombinetics Inc., Queens University and University College Dublin
 
Topic: Development and validation of an on-farm, electronic disease diagnosis platform for cattle
Institutions involved: Georgia Tech University, Queens University, and University College Cork
 
Topic:  Improved Animal husbandry through inhibition of Microbial Bile Salt Hydrolase
Institutions involved: University of Tennessee, Queens University, and University College Cork
 
Topic:  Identification of Regulatory Element Variants Impeding Immune Response to Pathogens Causing Bovine Respiratory Disease
Institutions involved: University of Missouri, Teagasc, and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute
 

Topic:  Dual-Function Engineered Biochar for Excess Soil Phosphorus Sorption with Subsequent Slow Release for Cost-Effective and Sustainable Crop Production
Institutions involved: Auburn University, Trinity College Dublin, and the Agri-Food and Biosciences 

Showcasing U.S-Ireland R&D Partnership

The US-Ireland R&D Partnership links researchers across Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States. This collaborative approach helps to accelerate innovation in a number of key sectors including health, energy and sustainability.

This US-Ireland R&D project was titled "Improved Animal Husbandry through Inhibition of Microbial Bile Salt Hydrolase", or NAGpro for short. It involved a collaboration of researchers from the University of Tennessee, University College Cork and Queen's University Belfast. The purpose was to develop innovative antibiotic-free feeding technologies (growth promoters) that will enhance weight gain in chickens, enhance profitability for producers and deliver a product of enhanced quality to the consumer.

Topic
International
Page last updated: March 10, 2026
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