Conor Holohan

Conor Holohan is a Senior Grassland Scientist at the Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute (AFBI), based in Hillsborough Co. Down. He grew up on a suckler beef farm in Scotstown, Co. Monaghan and worked on local dairy and poultry farms before receiving his degree in agriculture at Dundalk Institute of Technology in 2015.

He then went on to study a masters in Agricultural Innovation and Support at University College Dublin, where his research was focused on farmer discussion groups and the development of a facilitation guide for farm advisors. During this time, he spent 18 months working as a Teagasc Dairy and Drystock Advisor in Tullamore Co. Offaly and undertook a 3-month study period at Massey University in New Zealand. He later completed a PhD in dairy and grassland production at UCD, which assessed the potential of zero-grazing as a management tool on Irish dairy farms.

Conor joined AFBI in 2021 and his research is centred on pasture production and management, with a particular focus on precision technologies. He currently leads a research programme on virtual fencing and is involved in a number of projects utilising the Precision Grassland Platform at Hillsborough.

In 2022 he received the US-Ireland Fulbright Award for Agriculture, Food, and Environment and spent 6 months working as a visiting researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.