AgriSearch is looking for upland farmers in Northern Ireland to volunteer to participate in a European grassland project.

The Europe-wide Research Project into Developing SUstainable PERmanent Grassland systems and policies is dubbed ‘SUPER-G’ for short.

The project aims to develop sustainable permanent grassland systems and policies with farmers, citizens, and policymakers; ensuring business viability, while supporting biodiversity and delivering several other ecosystem services.

What’s involved?

The recruited farmers must be willing to participate in workshops and surveys throughout the project.

Two of the farmers from the newly-established network will be then selected to participate in further on-farm testing of innovations.

The farmers selected to participate in on-farm testing will also be required to host at least one farm walk.

If you are interested in participating in the project or require more information, please contact Nicola Annett at: [email protected].

SUPER-G

SUPER-G is a five-year project funded under Horizon 2020. The €10 million project began in June.

The consortium is made up of 20 project partners, 20 farm networks and around 17 experimental platforms and field experiments across five biogeographical regions in Europe.

The project will benchmark and synthesise data on permanent grassland performance by means of evidence reviews, field experimentation, expert elicitation and modelling.

Aims of the SUPER-G project include:

  • Improving understanding of the importance and functioning of permanent grasslands;
  • Increased availability and uptake of grassland management options and technologies;
  • Improved competitiveness of farming systems based on or including permanent grassland;
  • Development of agricultural and environmental policies that support optimal management of permanent grasslands.