Ireland
July 6, 2015

Irish Seed Trade Association’s (ISTA) annual Open Day 2015 to visit the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine cereal trials, will take place on Tuesday 7th July 2015 at Kildalton College, Piltown, Co Kilkenny.

Attendees will be able to view the latest trial results from the crop varieties under evaluation; winter/spring barley, oats and wheat plus forage maize, oilseed rape and grass/clover varieties. The day will run from 9.30am to 2.30pm.

This yearly event brings together representatives from every aspect of cereal production including crop consultants, DAFM personnel, Teagasc tillage specialists, seed suppliers, cereal growers, Irish Farmers Association, agro chemical and animal feed suppliers, food and beverage related industries, feed and grain trade, flour millers, malting industry, agri-media, UCD graduates, and trade personnel from agribusiness sectors in Britain and Ireland.

This is a well-attended event each year as ISTA members get the opportunity to view varieties coming up for full recommendation on the Department of Agriculture Recommended List. It also offers the opportunity to view new varieties that have recently entered the evaluation process.

According to Jim Gibbons, ISTA Vice President, ‘viewing the Department evaluation trials is our opportunity as an industry to evaluate potential varieties for the future. The work undertaken by the Department is the basis of ensuring new varieties are fit for purpose under Irish conditions and will stand up to unique disease challenges cereal growers face here’.

The spotlight will be on new spring barley, winter barley and winter wheat varieties.

The Irish Seed Trade Association represents multipliers, producers and distributors of certified seed in Ireland and promotes the use of certified seed in tillage, forage and grassland crops to ensure the best varieties of seed are made available to Irish farmers.

Website: http://www.irishseedtrade.ie

Published: July 6, 2015