2 AUGUST 1933 – 14 MARCH 2026

After a long and distinguished life and career, David Farrell, aged 92, passed away peacefully after a short illness on the 14^th of March at Coleraine, County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. David was born in 1933 at the family home on their farm Cookstown near Kells in County Meath in Ireland. He attended school at Ampleforth in Yorkshire and in the early 1950s attended Cirencester Agricultural College in Gloucestershire. Financial problems with the family farm prevented him from returning there, and in 1955 he emigrated to Western Canada where he took on work with a logging company in British Colombia. In 1960, at the age of 27, he made the life-changing decision to pursue higher education by enrolling in a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree at the University of British Colombia. He graduated in 1964 and two years later, following nutritional research studies with mink, obtained his Masters degree.

In 1967, together with his wife Pearl and their young family, David emigrated to Australia to commence a PhD study at the University of New England (UNE), in Armidale. Following award of the degree, David was appointed lecturer in Animal Nutrition at UNE in 1971. His PhD work involved energy metabolism studies in sheep, and this was to form the basis of his lifetime studies in a range of species including chickens, pigs and humans, and of his recognition as a world authority on energy metabolism. As a result of his seminal work and numerous peer reviewed publications in this area, David was awarded the degree of Doctor of Rural Science in 1983, and a personal chair at UNE in 1991. In 1994 he moved to the University of Queensland (UQ) and was shortly afterwards appointed Director of the Queensland Poultry Research and Development Centre at Cleveland. David played an important role at both UNE and UQ in the mentoring of post-graduate students, and supervised more than 40 successful PhD and Masters candidatures, the majority of whom were from developing countries.

As a reflection of his interest in the application and relevance of his work to the animal industries, David’s development of a rapid method for the determination of Metabolizable Energy of feedstuffs, and his innovative work in the use of respiration calorimetry in the development of a Net Energy system, were of enormous value to the poultry industry in the commercial formulation of diets. His interest in the importance of ⍵-3 fatty acids in animal and human health led to the development of ⍵-3 enriched eggs, and the commercialisation in a number of countries of diets engineered to produce these eggs. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to poultry science and the global poultry industries, David received many invitations to present papers at international conferences and meetings. He also received a significant number of awards and accolades, including the Australian Poultry Award in 1991 and his induction into the International Poultry Hall of Fame in 2008.

His recognition of the importance of small-scale poultry and pig farming to sustainable production and to the wellbeing and nutrition of families in rural and peri-urban areas of developing countries, led to his involvement in projects, courses and consultancies in many countries in Asia, Africa, Oceania and South America, sponsored by a variety of funding bodies. His very genuine concern for the wellbeing of the target families was reflected in his interaction with the families themselves and in his always critical assessment of the efficacy and impact of the project or course.

Whilst holding very firm convictions and views about a wide range of issues, in his research studies and in life generally David was undeniably an impressive free thinker and innovator. Although not one to broadcast his opinions, he was steadfast and eloquent in the defence of same when challenged. David was an exceedingly hard working, focussed and productive researcher, sometimes at the expense of family life, but this was balanced by a strong moral compass combined with a great sense of humour and impressive social skills, which made him many friends over the years throughout the world.

David met Annabel in 1992 in Northern Ireland and they were married in 1993 in Australia. They returned to county Antrim in Northern Ireland in 2015 and lived there, with occasional trips back to Australia and North America up until shortly before his passing. We send our sincere condolences to Annabel and to his children David, Catherine and Patrick.