€1 million state-of-the-art dairy calf rearing centre opens at UCD Lyons Farm Ireland Facility designed to offer agriculture and veterinary students hands-on experience in calf rearing, while expanding dairy heifer research7 May 2025 7 May 2025 3 minute read 3 minute read By: By: University College Dublin School of Agriculture EuropeA new €1 million state-of-the-art centre that will apply cutting-edge research to benefit and improve the health and rearing of dairy calves has been opened at UCD Lyons Farm. The Dairy Calf Education and Research Facility will provide agriculture and veterinary students with hands-on experience in the best practice of calf rearing, while also greatly expanding the national research capacity of dairy heifer research - with a focus on early life nutrition, better integration of dairy and beef, and environmental impact. Designed to fulfil both research and commercial farming requirements, and demonstrate best practice in dairy calf rearing, the new facility has the capacity to rear 180 dairy calves from birth up to 5 months of age. “University College Dublin is the only university in Ireland to have its own dedicated research and teaching farm,” said UCD President, Professor Orla Feely. UCD Lyons Farm, one of the main hubs for UCD agricultural and veterinary research and teaching, is a fully functioning farm comprising 250 hectares of land in Co. Kildare, with dairy, beef, sheep, equine, crop and environmental research, teaching and commercial facilities.