Bar Tech

Catch up with our latest agricultural news below...

Summer events

Barenbrug UK was pleased to attend a variety of summer shows, including... 

• The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s Regen 23 event in Bridgend, Wales
• The British Grassland Society Summer Tour based in Bangor, Wales
• Down To Earth South in Somerset, and North in Cumbria
• Groundswell in Hertfordshire

The weather was generally cooperative, and we enjoyed seeing lots of customers, exhibitors, seminars, and having so many chances to learn! Farmers who attended were very engaged, and came with lots of excellent questions and points for discussion. We relished the opportunity to talk about and learn about regenerative agriculture, pasture management, pasture species, farm fodder flow, and anything else you can think of! Our team was well stocked with our Product Guides, Grassland Management Guides, and Sward Sticks, all of which proved very popular.

Coming up...

Collaboration is at our core, supporting new initiatives across the industry to help farmers succeed in improving farm resilience, increasing productivity & sustainability. This is why Barenbrug will be offering a walk-in 'Grass clinic' at the event. The Grass Clinic is available for anyone with a query about their grass, to drop in and speak to Barenbrug’s grassland experts for insight and advice. See you there!

The 2023/2024 Recommended Grass and Clover Lists for England and Wales has been published - find it here. This is a great industry reference for the performance of ryegrass, timothy, cocksfoot, and clover varieties, enabling farmers to pick varieties with characteristics require for their farming operations.

Highlights from Barenbrug include:

• 20 perennial ryegrass varieties listed, 19 of which are from our breeding partners at AFBI Loughgall. This provides us with an extremely solid foundation of varieties covering a range of heading dates on which to base our mixtures
• 7 Italian and Hybrid ryegrass varieties listed, providing excellent short to medium term options
• 3 varieties that will become commercial by 2026 (Tollymore 2024, Banbridge 2025, Crossgar 2026)
• Galgorm intermediate diploid, with the highest grazing yield, first equal total conservation yield, highest spring grazing yield, highest yield for 3^rd and 4^th cuts, and a very strong seasonal growth curve
• For intermediate tetraploids, the top 4 varieties for overall yield (conservation): Banbridge, Fintona and Seagoe, Tollymore
• For late diploids, 5 commercial varieties at or above the class average for grazing yield and ME yield under grazing, above class average for conservation yield in year 1 and 3 and total yield, as well as ME yield from the first two cuts in year 1

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• Try not to let the crop get too heavy before cutting; this will shade out clover and daughter tillers, which can result in lower tiller density and lower clover content. Dead leaves will also accumulate in the bottom of the canopy which can lower silage quality and encourage disease.
• Don’t scalp the crop. Ryegrass keeps its carbohydrate reserves in the bottom 5 cm or so of the plant. If part of this section is removed, it can take the plant a long time to regrow leaves and then restore its reserves. If conditions are stressful after cutting, or cutting happens again before the plant has fully recovered, tiller will perish and the stand will thin out.
• Leave appropriate rest time after cutting, so that plants can regrow 2.5-3 leaves and replenish their carbohydrate reserves for the next cutting. This is particularly important if the field is white after cutting, as it will take extra time for plants to redevelop their photosynthetic ability.
• Wherever possible, try to minimize compaction and tyre damage to fields
• When cutting or picking up, observe trends in the field such as areas with lower yields, higher weed incursion, more damage, or lower tiller density. What is causing these issues? Is there a way to address them immediately, or at the next reseed?
• As always, for more information contact your area Barenbrug rep