United Kingdom
June 8, 2016
Two new high yielding perennial ryegrass varieties are available to UK farmers this spring thanks to a long-term partnership between Barenbrug, the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) in Northern Ireland.
Fintona is a new intermediate tetraploid perennial produced from a cross between Malone and Dunluce and is the highest yielding perennial ryegrass ever in the whole of the UK!
A valuable grass for farms that want to maximise silage yield on a two-cut system, Fintona sets a new standard in forage production for intermediate tetraploid perennials in the UK Recommended List trials. Results show that Fintona has a better total silage yield than other AFBI varieties that are already performing well in grazing and silage mixtures.
Moira is an intermediate diploid perennial ryegrass that provides excellent spring growth. Trials show that Moira delivers total silage yields that are 8% higher than Spelga, the variety it was bred to replace. The parentage of Moira includes Dutch grass genetics, acquired through Barenbrug breeding stations, which are located worldwide.
Moira and Fintona have taken almost 15 years to develop as part of a specialist grass-breeding programme at AFBI Loughgall in County Armagh. The ten-hectare site – where we have been a commercial partner since the 1990s – was established in the 1950s to produce grass varieties optimised for the UK farming sector. Read more about the fascinating story of grass on pages 6-7.
The selection procedures used by AFBI in breeding Moira and Fintona were developed in close cooperation with grass experts from our international network of breeding stations. This allowed access to novel breeding materials with favourable attributes such as high spring growth, disease resistance and winter hardiness.
To support the trials at Loughgall, the selection and evaluation process was carried out at Barenbrug sites in England, France and the Netherlands, where disease and winter damage is usually more extreme than in Northern Ireland. This data was invaluable in identifying the best parental stocks.
Mhairi Dawson, Research and Development Manager, said: “Grass is one of the most important on-farm crops so it’s important that varieties are bred carefully to maximise productivity in the places where they’ll ultimately be grown. That’s the purpose of our work at Loughgall, where we are helping to bring new varieties to market that will meet the needs of UK farmers. From start to finish the process of developing a new grass variety is incredibly long and represents a significant investment by all parties involved. Offering excellent performance throughout the United Kingdom, we anticipate strong commercial demand for Moira and Fintona and are delighted to bring them to market in partnership with AFBI.”
The launch of Moira and Fintona follows the successful commercialisation of Clanrye, Seagoe and Glenariff, which have been established on hundreds of UK farms and created excellent swards.
AFBI has further new varieties in the pipeline, which we are multiplying at present. These include new intermediate tetraploids Ramore and Caledon, as well as a new late diploid, Glenarm. At an earlier stage of development are Glasker, Carland and Gosford.
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