Spring came late in 2021 and the knock on effect on grass trials is a delayed final harvest to the trial plots. We aim to cut the final trials at the end of October to remove excess growth before winter. However if the mild weather continues there may be a further grass harvesting to be done in November which can be tricky to work around the rain. The year has otherwise been good for grass growth with higher than average yield.
November and December is the time to step back from the day-to-day work of managing field trials and assess the work from the past year. Hopefully we will have observed some exceptional performance of new candidate varieties to support and application to the National List testing system and bring them to farm in another six years.
Jamie Cotton
