The Ulster Grassland Society will host its 57th annual conference next Tuesday, January 26 at the Dunsilly Hotel, Antrim.
The overarching theme of the event is: growing and utilising more grass, where does it all begin? 
This year’s speakers will provide conference delegates with valuable perspectives on how farmers in Northern Ireland
can better manage their soils in order to fully realise their grassland potential.
“At last year’s conference we heard that farmers in Northern Ireland are, on average, only obtaining half of the potential from their swards,” explained UGS President, David Johnston.
“As grass is the cheapest livestock feed, this year’s conference will look at how farmers can best manage their land to optimise outputs from their swards.
The four speakers for the conference are Jo Scamell; Dr Stan Lalor; Francis Breen and Michael Murphy.
Jo runs an independent company, Ground Level Nutrition Ltd, working in soil, forage and livestock nutrition management and consultancy. 
Stan is head of speciality with Grassland Agro and will look at soil as the foundation for production for grass growth.
Francis is an adviser in the Northern Ireland Suckler Beef Programme. This is a joint initiative to generate a roadmap to profitable beef production from the suckler herd. 
Michael is a dairy farmer and businessman from Cork and has interests in America, New Zealand and Chile. Michael is a big advocate of improving soil fertility.
The Grassland Farmer of the Year Awards will take place at the conference.