As part of its UK-wide seed variety and crop protection testing programme, ProCam has established a long-term forage trial in south Devon.

The aim of the trial is to assess the performance of the company’s Field Options range of forage seed mixtures, with the goal of improving the performance and quality of swards being grown by livestock farmers under the Government’s SFI scheme.

“One of the goals of DEFRA’s Sustainable Farming Initiative (SFI) was to encourage livestock farmers to diversify their grass swards as a way of improving their farm’s biodiversity,” explains Simon Montgomery, Technical Lead for ProCam’s Field Options Performance Seeds.

“We have therefore extended our long-term programme of testing different forage mixtures by establishing a new trial in Devon.”

The new trial, which is being hosted on a site chosen for its ability to test grass-based swards under difficult conditions, is the continuation of similar work previously carried out by ProCam in Shropshire.

“The move to the Devon site marks nearly 20 years of continuous replicated forage research, as ProCam originally began testing its Field Options range of grass mixtures back in 2006,”

Simon continues: “The goal back then was to assess how different grass, clover and herb mixtures perform over periods ranging from three to seven years.

“The Devon trial will follow in a similar vein by screening the performance and quality of different pasture mixtures when used in a multi-cut system so that we can make meaningful sward management and seed choice recommendations to livestock farmers not just in the south west, but throughout the UK.”

The new trial, which is being hosted by NIAB at its disease screening site near Dartington, is being operated under the same management protocols as the UK grassland Recommended List Trials but focuses on testing multi-species mixtures rather than individual varieties.

“As well as testing different hybrid, perennial, and Italian ryegrass and clover mixtures, we are also testing herbs such as plantain and chicory, the inclusion of which has previously been proven to increase the dry matter yield of grass-based mixtures by more than 3.0t/ha,” Simon adds.

The trial plots at the Dartington site will be cut five times per year, at six-week intervals starting in April, and assessed not only for yield, but also for their overall performance in terms of winter hardiness, ground cover and disease tolerance.

Foliar inputs such as biofertilisers and biostimulants, which have previously proven to improve yield and quality, will also be tested.

“We’ll be assessing how the latest varieties perform in mixtures, so that, where appropriate, improvements to our seed mixture formulations can be made to maximise their performance whilst still remaining eligible for an SFI payment,” Simon explains.

“The site at Dartington is the ideal testing ground for this kind of work as it's on light, drought-prone land that tends to have a high disease burden. This creates tough conditions that really put the mixtures to the test.

For more information about the Field Options range visit https://www.procam.co.uk/field-options/