March was a busy month for our research and development manager, Jayne Leyland. She's been hot-footing it around the country, sharing her knowledge with hundreds of greenkeepers and groundsmen in a series of seminars on the benefits of Barenbrug's breeding and research programme.

Jayne kicked things off at Oaklands College in Hertfordshire, where she joined guest speakers including the Sports Turf Research Institute's (STRI) Dr Ruth Mann, and Greg Evans, course manager at Ealing Golf Club, for the first annual British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) London region seminar.

Some 140 delegates turned out to hear Jayne speak about the latest grass seed developments and issues affecting the turf industry. Jayne also highlighted how vital our extensive research and development programme is in furthering our understanding of the role mixture synergy has to play in finding solutions. And, in particular, how our trials at Barenbrug UK research site Cropvale, STRI, in-field trials with turf professionals and collaboration with universities are proving invaluable.

The BIGGA Southwest contingency then met at Chipping Sodbury Golf Club in Bristol, where Jayne gave a similar presentation. And as part of our support services for distributors, Jayne joined Avoncrop Amenity Products at Ashburnham Golf Club in Wales to re-enforce the message to their customers of the value of research and development and the importance of choosing quality, high vigour seed.