The statement of financial activities included in the latest AgriSearch annual report shows that the farm research body recorded a small loss of £7,685 in the year ending 31 March 2025.

That followed on from a large surplus of £366,083 in the previous financial year and a loss of £630,831 in the year before that.

The big swings in net funds are due to changes in expenditure year-on-year and reflect the fact that projects commissioned by AgriSearch do not come forward in regular cycles. In the year to March 2023, total expenditure was over £1.14m, compared to £337,974 and £636,583 in the next two years.

ADVERTISEMENT

Despite that variation in expenditure, the organisation remains in a healthy financial state, with net assets of £870,320 at the end of March 2025.

Charity and levies

AgriSearch is the trading name for the NI Agricultural Research & Development Council, a charitable company, limited by guarantee. Its main activity is to commission agricultural and development work in livestock farming.

The organisation employs 6 people, with total staff costs of £206,335 and is run by a board of trustees who do not receive any remuneration outside of travel expenses of £3,656.

The main source of income is from farmer levies, which are currently set at 0.02p/l for milk, beef is 30p per head with sheep at 5p per head.

In total, those levies brought in £479,256 in the last financial year of which the vast majority is from dairy (£327,911) and beef (£131,370).

Over nearly three decades, inflation has significantly eroded the real value of this income

Commenting in the annual report, the chair of AgriSearch Prof Gerry Boyle pointed out that levy income has remained unchanged since 1997, outside of a small increase of 10p in the beef levy in 2015, so a review is necessary.

“Over nearly three decades, inflation has significantly eroded the real value of this income, making it increasingly difficult to commission meaningful research at the scale and depth required,” he said.

One other related issue impacting AgriSearch is there are fewer opportunities to get involved in research projects coming forward from the likes of DAERA and when something does arise it is often not aligned with the goals and aspirations of the organisation.

AgriSearch is now undertaking smaller scale farm-level initiatives

As a result, AgriSearch has engaged the services of former AFBI CEO, Dr Sinclair Mayne as an independent scientific adviser. “AgriSearch is now undertaking smaller scale farm-level initiatives which it can fund using its own resources,” states the annual report.