May 2006
'Look for the Logo’ on herbage seed, livestock farmers urged
Herbage Varieties Guide scheme
Livestock producers in England and Wales are being urged to support continued investment in Recommended List testing of herbage varieties. By looking out for the new Herbage Varieties Guide logo when purchasing herbage seed, farmers will know they are contributing towards the independent process of variety evaluation and recommendation which underpins advances in herbage breeding and grassland management.
The new Herbage Varieties Guide scheme has been developed by the British Society of Plant Breeders in partnership with participating seed merchants, plant breeders, seed growers and NIAB. This followed concerns that the previous system of voluntary levies was struggling to cover the scheme’s £120,000 annual costs, or to provide adequate protection of trials data.
The new system retains a voluntary levy in preference to a compulsory approach, but is strengthened significantly with a new identity and logo, and licensing of participating merchants to use the new branding and access trials data.
Already the scheme, now restyled as the Herbage Varieties Guide, has signed up well over 70 individual suppliers, more than under the previous system. Significantly, this will not put up the cost to farmers, with the levy retained at 2.6p/kg on sales of grass seed.
Trials will continue to be carried out by NIAB under contract to BSPB, with the resulting data reviewed annually by the Herbage Trials Advisory Committee which recommends the best varieties for farmers in England and Wales.
The Recommended List will no longer be published in booklet form, but will be available electronically via a new web-site at www.herbagevarietiesguide.co.uk. This includes general information about the scheme and individual varieties, as well as a protected area for participants to access the full Recommended List data.
Protecting trials data in this way will ensure that, in future, only participating suppliers and merchants licensed to display the Herbage Varieties Guide logo can access the definitive guide to the best herbage varieties for use in England and Wales. Better varieties and variety data mean better mixtures for farmers.
Dr Penny Maplestone, Operations Manager at BSPB, explained that the new system sought to a establish a direct link between farmers’ seed purchasing decisions and the value of independent variety testing and evaluation:
‘As livestock farmers focus increasingly on grassland management as a component of successful milk and meat production, it is vital that the industry maintains an independent benchmark of the highest performing herbage varieties in terms of yield, quality and persistence.
‘The new Herbage Varieties Guide logo will be displayed by licensed distributors on seed packaging, web-sites, letterheads, leaflets and other marketing literature.
A list of participating suppliers is also available on the new scheme web-site.’
‘By purchasing their seed mixtures from merchants displaying the Herbage Varieties Guide logo, farmers can be confident that they are accessing the best independent advice on the right combination of varieties to suit their business needs.’
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