Grassland Society Conference planned

The theme for this year’s conference is “Economic and Sustainable Farming” and will feature four leading speakers from across the British Isles and Ireland.

Firstly well known figure Andy Doyle who is tillage editor of the Irish farmers Journal and Chair of Tillage Industry Ireland will discuss the practical aspects of good soil management highlighting what grassland farmers can learn from the arable sectorHe will be followed by Marc Jones a beef and sheep farmer from Wales with a 500 acre tenanted farm running 500 ewes and 130 ewe lambs alongside 350 Aberdeen Angus dairy bred heifers which are taken through to beef being finished off grass. Lambs are finished at 5-6 months of age on a supermarket contract with the price set in January for the year ahead.

A soil scientist with the National Institute of Agricultural Botany Dr Elizabeth Stockdale will then speak to the conference. Elizabeth who is currently BGS President has been involved with a wide range of research projects connected with the study of nutrient cycling in soils and with the environmental impact of farming systems. Most recently she has been active in developing farmer-focused approaches to measurement of soil health..The final speaker will be Jim Baird a dairy farmer rom Lanarkshire in Scotland. Jim is a Nuffield Scholar who studied Attributes of Enterprising Rural Businesses. Milking 240 cows on a forage-based Autumn-block-calving system. he will give an overview of his farm business from an economic and sustainability perspective.

The Conference commences with tea and coffee at 9.45am with the Society’s AGM taking place at 10.15am prior to the Conference speakers with the presentation of the awards in the Grassland Farmer of the Year competition, sponsored by Danske Bank, taking place before lunch.

The Conference is open to UGS Members and all grassland enthusiasts with students particularly welcome. The costs to attend are as follows; Members £35; Non Members £45 and Agricultural Students £25. Booking can be made via the UGS website ulstergrassland.co.uk or by contacting George Reid at [email protected] or by phone 07920037910.Ulster Grassland Society President Harold Johnston and President Elect David Linton look forward to welcoming members and friends to this Face2Face conference on Tuesday 17th January for what promises to be an informative day discussing economic and sustainable farming.

Grassland Farmer of the Year results to be announced at UGS Conference

A feature of the Ulster Grassland Society’s Annual Conference is the presentation of awards in the Grassland Farmer of the Year competition. This year will be no exception and the winners will be announced just before lunch at the Conference on Tuesday 17th January 2023

This competition always attracts keen interest from Society members and grassland enthusiasts with the top awards highly sought after in the farming community

The GFY competition helps farmer members benchmark their own farming enterprises with assessment on grass management and sustainability, silage utilisation and feeding and environmental practice

The competition has been generously sponsored by Danske Bank for over 30 years and members of the Banks Agribusiness team will be on hand at the Conference to hand over the awards.

Speaking prior to the conference a Danske Bank spokesperson said: “Danske Bank is again pleased to support this prestigious competition and we look forward to meeting all the finalists and the winners at the UGS Conference on 17th January."