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The Agriculture and Food Development Authority of Ireland (Teagasc) is the leading public sector organisation in the fields of agriculture and food research in Ireland. It conducts national research programmes, knowledge dissemination and education in broad thematic areas: Animal and Grassland; Crops, Environment and Land Use; Rural Economy and Development; Food. Teagasc conducts about 300 research projects at any one time, supported by funding from national bodies, EU, worldwide sources and the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine. The Environment, Soils and Land Use research programme develops technologies and management strategies that allow farmers to combine economic sustainability with environmental sustainability, ensuring profitable farming with resource conservation or improvement. Teagasc advisory services provide development support, advisory and consultancy services to all farmers and rural dwellers. Some 500 advisers and specialists, located at 80 centres in Ireland help farmers apply best practice and results from the Teagasc research. The advisory service is focused on achieving a competitive and sustainable agricultural sector, making full use of EU and national support measures, all resources and on-farm / off-farm opportunities.

Teagasc research advises government on all national legislation and policy via published research on water quality, gaseous emission, soil and agro-ecology through their multi-disciplinary working groups. Nationally, Teagasc has projects in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, EPA, DAFM, EU LIFE projects, Tellus cross-border funding with Northern Ireland, Interreg projects in Northern Europe and New Zealand. Teagasc also has its own training scheme for PhD and Post-doctoral researchers.