Innovative research from IBERS on show at the Winter Fair

The latest research on developing the crops of tomorrow and making agriculture more sustainable will be on show at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair in Llanelwedd on 24-25 November.

Experts from the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University will be on hand to talk about their work on improving grassland agriculture, converting plants into products such as livestock bedding, and developing tools and technologies to support smart farming. 

At their stand on the balcony above Exhibition Hall 1, IBERS scientists will be keen not only to share their latest findings but also to find out more about the challenges facing farmers and others in the agriculture industry.

Professor Iain Donnison, Head of IBERS, said:

“Improving agricultural productivity and sustainability is key to our work as a research institute and we work closely with the industry as well as with policy makers to find innovative yet practical solutions to the many challenges we face as a society. As we work on breeding the crops of tomorrow, we want to ensure our expertise in grassland and plant breeding science continues to deliver practical benefits for Wales and the wider world. We look forward to engaging with farmers and other stakeholders at the Winter Fair so please do call by to see us and meet some of the IBERS staff.”

Among the IBERS teams at the event will be staff from our Agricultural Systems group whose work includes investigating the use of novel forage legumes on farms, including new types of clover. These nitrogen-fixing crops have the potential to reduce nitrogen fertiliser use and bring both production and environmental gains. 

The Biomass Connect team from IBERS will share information on biomass feedstock planting, the role of biomass in regenerative farming, and how crops like miscanthus and willow, for example, can be used as a sustainable animal bedding.

Visitors can also find out about the range of online Continuing Professional Development and postgraduate courses offered by the IBERS Distance Learning team – from livestock nutrition, soil science and plant breeding to waste resource management and sustainable supply chains. Many of these courses can be taken as CPD towards Welsh Government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme learning requirement or to gain BASIS points. Details of undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses in agriculture and other subjects at the University’s Department of Life Sciences will also be available on the stand.

Farm Business Survey

Staff from the Farm Business Survey, which collects annual data on the financial position and performance of farm businesses in Wales, will be at the Winter Fair to discuss their work, this year's results and the possibility of joining the survey.

The voluntary, confidential survey has been run by Aberystwyth University for almost 90 years and is funded by the Welsh Government with support from many farming organisations. It provides policymakers and researchers with information on the economic conditions of different types and sizes of farms in Wales, as well as providing farmers, farm advisers and others with comparative information essential for assessing the performance of individual farm units.

The latest survey results are available online, with the figures for 2024-25 scheduled for publication late November 2025: aber.ac.uk/en/ibers/outreach-and-impact/fbs.

IBERS

IBERS is part of Aberystwyth University and is based on Gogerddan campus, alongside AberInnovation. It is one of only eight research institutes strategically funded by UKRI’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to provide the UK with a national capability in grassland and plant breeding science, supporting strategic sustainability goals and net zero targets.

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