High Sugar Seed Range Now Covers All Grassland Options
2011-02-21

The 2011 herbage seed mixtures range from British Seed Houses includes four premium mixtures made up exclusively of Aberystwyth-bred high sugar ryegrasses and white clover blends.

Grass breeding remains a focal point at the Gogerddan site at IBERS Aberystwyth University.

The Aber HSG premium range comprises specialist cattle grazing and long term grazing options, plus a medium term cutting mixture and a fourth variation specifically for dairy farmers taking a first cut followed by aftermath grazing. All grazing mixtures are available with Puna II perennial chicory whilst the specialist cutting mixture has the option of adding red clover.

“The ryegrass breeding programme at IBERS Aberystwyth University continues to produce outstanding varieties that combine yield with quality and are ideally suited to the UK climate,” points out Paul Billings of British Seed Houses. “These varieties all feature strongly on the independently compiled NIAB/TAG and SAC recommended lists and are made available first in our Aber HSG premium mixtures.

“In the past year we have introduced the intermediate heading perennial ryegrass AberFarrell and the late heading varieties AberBite and AberChoice. These now feature in the premium mixtures alongside more established high ranking perennials such as AberMagic, AberStar, AberAvon and AberDart and the hybrids AberEcho and AberEve.

“Now that we have such a broad range of high-performing varieties we are able to compile mixtures with the optimum heading date ranges for particular uses. This means mixtures are matched more accurately to farms’ management systems and that ultimately means better use is made of the forage.

“Inclusion of alternative forages such as perennial chicory and red clover is increasingly popular in certain contexts and hence we have extended the range to include quality options as appropriate.”

Full details for British Seed Houses’ latest herbage seed range is available in the booklet ‘Aber Premium Mixtures 2011’ which can also be downloaded at www.britishseedhouses.com. The booklet includes financial comparisons between Aber HSG mixtures and the non-Aber equivalents, based on the performance potential of additional energy yield per hectare derived from independent D-value and dry matter yield data.

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