The Netherlands
September 15, 2016
It’s been another excellent year for forage grass varieties available exclusively through Barenbrug and developed by our partners at the Agri-Food and Bio-Sciences Institute (AFBI). For the 2016/17 growing season a record number of our varieties appear on the Recommended Grass and Clover Lists for England and Wales, and Scotland.
In England and Wales, two of our brand new perennial ryegrass varieties are listed for the first time - Glasker and Gosford.
Some of our well known varieties also reappear, reinforcing the results they can deliver on farms across the UK.
These include:
- Clanrye, Dunluce, Glenariff, Moira and Seagoe – which have been established on hundreds of UK farms and created excellent swards
- Caledon, Glenarm and Ramore – which were added to the Recommended List for England and Wales in 2015
- Fintona – the highest yielding ryegrass ever produced by any breeder.
In Scotland five of our ryegrasses and one of our clovers have achieved acclaimed 1st Choice status. The five ryegrasses are Glenariff, Clanrye, Malone, Seagoe and Dunluce; the latter three were the only intermediate tetraploid ryegrasses relisted after an evaluation of ten previously recommended varieties. Katy was the clover variety confirmed as 1st Choice having spent a couple of years as a Provisional 1st Choice. And Gosford and Carland – two new intermediate perennial ryegrass varieties available from Barenbrug – were added to the Scottish list for the first time, going straight in as Provisional 1st Choice options.
In total, 82 perennial ryegrasses appear on the Scottish list, almost a quarter of which are bred by AFBI in cooperation with Barenbrug. Our other ryegrass varieties on the list include:
-
Kilrea and Moyola (early)
-
Fintona, Ramore, Spelga, Moira
, Caledon and Copeland (Intermediate)
- Tyrella, Drumbo, Navan and Dunloy (late)
We also have three additional white clover varieties listed including Crusader. This medium leaf white clover is the only clover variety to ever win the prestigious NIAB Variety Cup.
Mhairi Dawson said: “Naturally we are delighted that so many AFBI / Barenbrug varieties have been included on both the English and Welsh, and Scottish lists for 2016/17. This result is testimony to the quality, innovation and continual improvement of our breeding programmes, which create varieties with genetics that stand the test of time. Buying grasses and clovers that are bred by specialists, and included on the Recommended List, can give farmers peace of mind that they will be able to maximise the productivity of their grassland and get a good return on investment. In the current market, that’s more important than ever.”
Grass varieties that appear on the UK’s Recommended Lists are subject to rigorous checks and assessed for winter hardiness, ground cover and disease resistance before being approved as fit to thrive under typical farming conditions.
Learn more
Topics
Species
