Supporting Irish farmers and foresters to adapt to climate change by delivering practical forecasts, tools, and cost-effective adaptation options across grassland, crops and forestry.
What is AgriAdapt?
Climate change is already affecting Irish farming through more variable weather, changing grass growth patterns, increased disease and pest pressure, and higher environmental risk.
AgriAdapt is a national research project designed to:
• Predict how climate change will affect grass growth, crop yields and forestry productivity across Ireland.
• Identify practical adaptation options for Irish farm systems.
• Deliver decision support tools and early alerts to help farmers manage climate risk.
The project takes a whole sector approach, covering grassland, tillage and forestry systems across all regions of Ireland.
How the project works?
Agri Adapt combines:
- National climate projections form Met Éireann (TRANSLATE).
- Advanced modelling of grassland, crops, forestry and pest dynamics.
- Field and on-farm research, including grass disease monitoring.
- Economic analyses to assess the costs and benefits of adaptation strategies.
Existing tools such as Pasture Base Ireland will be enhanced, while new decision support systems will be developed for the tillage sector.
What will AgriAdapt deliver for farmers?
AgriAdapt focuses on practical, farm-relevant outputs, including:
• Grass growth projections showing future dry matter yield and seasonal growth patterns.
• Crop and forestry yield projections
• Identification of grass varieties and sward types that are more resilient to disease.
• Tools to help tillage farmers select crops and rotations better suited to future climate conditions.
• Improved pest and disease forecasting, including Aphid and Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus risk.
• Early warning alerts for drought, nitrogen leaching and diseases risk, developed with Met Éireann.
• An adaptation cost curve to identify the most cost-effective adaptation measures.
What’s new?
- Bateman, R., Murphy, M., & Ruelle, E. (2026). Predicting the impact of climate change on grass growth in the Republic of Ireland. In: Book of Abstracts of the 3rd International Crop Modelling Symposium (iCROPM2026) (Oral Session 2: Climate Change-Impacts, Adaptation, Mitigation, pp. 28-30). Florence, Italy, February 2-4, 2026. https://icropm2026.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Abstract-Book-oral-Session-2-1.pdf
- Mulkerins, E., O’Donovan, M., Tubritt, T., Conaghan, P., McDonnell, J., Lynch, J., Fenelon, M., & Walsh, S. (2026). Using drone imagery as a decision support tool for the detection of disease in perennial ryegrass swards. In: Book of Abstracts of the 3rd International Crop Modelling Symposium (iCROPM2026) (Poster Session 5: Decision making and innovation support, pp. 65-66). Florence, Italy, February 2-4, 2026. https://icropm2026.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Abstract-Book-poster-Session-5-1.pdf
- Ahiamadia, D. & Ruelle, E. (2026). Optimising stocking rates for climate adaptation based on soil type and local weather conditions in Ireland. In: Book of Abstracts of the 3rd International Crop Modelling Symposium (iCROPM2026) (Poster Session 2: Climate Change-Impacts, Adaptation, Mitigation, pp. 25-27). Florence, Italy, February 2-4, 2026. https://icropm2026.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Abstract-Book-poster-Session-2-1.pdf
Project Partners
AgriAdapt is led by Teagasc in collaboration with Met Éireann, University College Dublin, Dundalk Institute of Technology, industry stakeholders and Irish farmers. The project is coordinated by Dr. Elodie Ruelle, Teagasc.
Funding and Duration
This is a multi-year project funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in Ireland (DAFM; AgriAdapt 2023RP865).
