Farming talk: British Grassland Society to meet again after Covid postponement
After postponements in both 2020 and 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the British Grassland Society (BGS) summer meeting in Northern Ireland finally got underway today.
Over 100 delegates have registered for the event and will join us on a wide range of visits over three days.
County Down is the base for the first day with visits to the dairy farms of both the Lilburn and McCracken families before moving on to the sheep farm of John Martin, the BGS Grassland Farmer of the Year 2019.
The gala dinner takes place in the evening, and we will have the opportunity to sample some local produce.
Fermanagh Grassland Club are hosting the second day of the meeting with visits to the dairy farm of the Clarke family, and the Egertons beef and sheep farm.
The day will end at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) at Hillsborough learning about the latest R&D work being undertaken across ruminant livestock production, climate change and the environment.
The BGS AGM and a barbeque supper will also be held there. For the final day the visits include the suckler herd of the McNeilly family in County Antrim before ending the meeting at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprises (CAFRE) hill farm at Glenwherry.
Planning is already underway for the 2023 summer meeting, to be held in North Wales, and we look forward to welcoming everyone next year.
Tom Goatman is British Grassland Society chief executive
