Did Sulphur make all the difference for Yara’s Grass Prix winner?
Drew and Margaret Wilson from Greenhead Farm, Forfar, Angus claimed the winning title for the 2016 Yara Grass Prix after a very closely fought competition. Mr and Mrs Wilson achieved a record cumulative result in terms of both yield and quality, not only setting the standard for the 2016 competition throughout, but smashing all previous […]
New £3m grass seed mixing plant opens in Scotland
Grass breeding company DLF-Trifolium opened a new, state-of-the-art, mixing and distribution centre just outside Edinburgh last week. At £3million, this is the largest investment in grass mixtures ever seen in the UK. The new 4,000m2 site will produce all the forage grass mixtures the company sells, and has the capacity to supply up to half of […]
TGAC help improve grass-crop harvests by completing genome sequence of model bacterium
TGAC, together with the Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto (UNRC) and Instituto de Agrobiotecnologica Rossario (INDEAR), Argentina, plus other European partners have completed the genome sequence of the model strain of the soil bacterium, Azospirillum brasilense Az39, to improve plant health and nutrition in agriculture. The soil bacterium, isolated from wheat roots in the central […]
New grass to fight flooding
A collaboration of plant and soil scientists from across the UK has shown a grass hybrid species could help reduce the impact of flooding. The BBSRC-funded scientists, from Rothamsted Research, the James Hutton Institute, Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University, Lancaster University and the University of Nottingham, used a hybridised […]
Ask the cows what they want for supper
Barenbrug’s agricultural product manager David Long considers the findings and implications for livestock producers and grass breeders. “Selecting the correct grass variety is widely accepted as being of major importance because of its potential influence on both animal and sward productivity. However the majority of grass-testing protocols test the performance of pure varieties in small […]
Research reveals that grass-fed beef is better for people and the environment
One of the biggest global challenges is how to increase food security whilst reducing the environmental impacts of food production. Livestock – like cattle and sheep – produce high levels of methane as part of the process of digesting grass. This has led to suggestions that intensive production methods – where cattle are fed largely […]
It looks good it tastes good but does it do any good?
In the worst cases, early spring grass is a very ineffective source of fibre and essential minerals, which can result in a decline in Milk quality and fertility rates. The challenge is to keep the quality of intakes up, whatever the circumstances. Another issue to be aware of at this time of the year is […]
Dairy farmers favour D-value over yield in quest for quality grass
D-value is now ranked higher than dry matter yield by UK dairy farmers when they are selecting grass varieties for reseeding, according to a British Seed Houses farmer survey reported at the company’s recent herbage training conference for agricultural merchants staged at IBERS Aberystwyth University. This finding reflects changes in priorities over the […]
