UK feed and animal nutrition research fund seeks proposals
The Society of Feed Technologists (SFT) Edgar Pye Scholarship 2023 is accessible to anyone who is either studying agriculture or a related subject, or who is already employed in the UK or Irish animal feed sector and is resident in the UK or the Republic of Ireland.
Broad focus
The scholarship funds projects in all areas of livestock feeding, including animal nutrition and management, feed production and marketing. Projects can be undertaken in the UK, abroad or based on travel to study the appropriate subject.
The awards are given to an applicant who, in the opinion of the judging panel, has most capably identified an area of relevant research, thoroughly prepared a program, has provided a realistic budget, and has presented a clear proposal.
One of the many benefits of winning such an award is early exposure to the feed industry with enhanced employment opportunities, according to the SFT.
The closing date for submissions is October 31, 2023.
Successful projects
The receipients of the 2022 Edgar Pye Scholarship awards, who received £3K each, were:
Maria Fernandez: The potential use of condensed tannins as supplements in the UK feed industry to reduce the environmental pollution, increase silage quality and shelf life for ruminants.
James Cullen: Investigating the impact of sanitisation of the feeding system on the bacterial and fungal microbiota of liquid feed and liquid feeding systems for pigs.
Elizabeth Brass: The effect of essential oils on internal egg quality characteristics in the eggs of later laying hens.
Previous award winners: From prebiotics to seaweed
Over the past years, awards have gone to research projects focused on varying topics from how prebiotics influence metabolic pathways to the nutritional value of seaweed in dairy cow nutrition. Also recognised were projects exploring superdosing of phytase, early nutritional strategies to promote lifetime pig performance, and a study reviewing the microbiological status of wheat entering feed and flour mills.
Additional projects funded by the SFT scheme included one evaluating the influence of benzoic acid and turmeric meal supplementation on the growth performance, nutrient utilization and intestinal health of broilers, and another analysing the transfer of genes from GM corn to the pig intestinal microbiota, among others.
