site and recommend the right mixture for you. Special mixtures can be formulated to suit the needs of the surface, by substituting a certain cultivar for one that has enhanced shade tolerance for a stadium environment, for example.
4. Check your delivery
Seed mixtures vary and occasionally one cultivar may be substituted for another dependent upon availability. When you take delivery of your seed, check it to make sure it contains the cultivars you’ve requested. Each bag should have the statutory DEFRA label which lists the species, cultivar and percentage inclusion.
5. Keep up to speed with developments
There have been great advances in the development of new cultivars in recent years. We're now able to breed grasses with traits to suit all situations and the seed companies offering is improving year on year. Obtain a copy of the STRI listings to see what’s new. You could also request a copy of your seed supplier’s catalogue and talk to your technical advisor who’ll keep you up to speed.
The 2008 BSPB/STRI turfgrass seed listings booklet is available to download free of charge from the BSH website at
www.bshamenity.com. Simply click on the catalogues banner on the Pitchcare homepage.
PRICES... T
GROWING SEED
Why have amenity grass seed prices risen so dramatically in 2008?
his year all seed mixtures will command a much higher price when compared to 2007. Many are already 50% higher! To understand why grass seed prices have
increased, we must first understand where grass seed comes from and who grows it. The majority of amenity grass seed is imported into the UK. It is grown and harvested on farms worldwide, with the USA, Denmark, Germany, Holland and Poland being the main exporting countries. Here, farmers are able to make larger and easier profits by growing basic farm crops, principally wheat, rather than grass seed that requires very specialised growing techniques. In Europe in 2007 wheat prices more than doubled in value from £75 per tonne to a high of £160 per tonne. This was due to a surge in price of all world commodities and especially because wheat is used to produce bio-ethanol and starch. This factor alone has taken out any UK surplus stocks.
This economic situation has made it very difficult to encourage established grass seed growers to plant new areas whilst established acreage is also being given over to wheat. Already we know that planting for seed in autumn 2007 was 30% lower than the preceding year.
On top of these economic conditions oil prices have risen steeply and this has a serious impact on transport costs. And it doesn’t stop there! Last summer’s
extensive flooding also affected the near continent reducing the seed yield considerably whilst, futher afield in eastern Europe, scorchingly high temperatures and drought reduced the amount of seed produced. A combination of all the above factors will
pretty much guarantee higher prices for 2008 and 2009.
ED? right
Nick Gladstone of Hurrells Specialist Seeds said “2007 was one of the most difficult harvests for many years. Despite what was an early spring, many grass crops went through a period of stress in what were relatively dry conditions. That was then followed by one of the wettest UK summers on record which were not the right conditions for grass plants to produce seed, let alone being able to harvest the crops. These combined conditions effectively reduced seed yield to 40-50% of their usual levels. This is an environmental issue that we see from time to time so we can say that that’s not so unusual.” “From an economic influence” continues Nick “there is a move by farmers worldwide to produce crops that are suitable for processing into bio fuel. Farmers are now receiving substantially higher prices for their grain. In many cases three times more than they were receiving twelve months ago. This has had a
knock on affect to production prices for grass seed whereby farmers will only grow it if there is a premium over and above what they can obtain by growing, for example, wheat. Simon Taylor of British Seed Houses said
“There is no doubt that the end user will pay more for grass seed this year. However, seed prices are only returning to what they were three or four year ago. Furthermore grass seed represents excellent value in terms of what it offers as a playing surface, particularly with the investment that goes into constantly producing new cultivars to overcome the challenges the environment and the end users throws at them. The industry should consider that, without such investment, the choice and quality of material would start to diminish. If you think of it in terms of cars, then if the automotive industry had not invested in design and technology, we would still be driving Model T Fords and you could have any colour so long as it was black!” Derek Smith, Amenity Sales Manager for
DLF Trifolium said “A combination of factors will inevitably force the price of grass seed to rise. In recent years we are seeing fewer grass seed crops grown. No longer is there any subsidy on grass seed production so growers are looking at the most profitable crops to grow i.e. wheat. In addition to this factor is a higher demand for bio-ethanol crops such as oil seed rape and wheat in Europe and the USA.” “We believe we will experience difficulty in contracting for 2009 grass seed production due to these competitive crops,” continues Derek. “The poor harvest in 2007 in the main production areas of Western Europe has reduced seed yield by 20% thus compounding the problem further for 2008 sales.” Paul Johnson, Managing Director of
Barenbrug UK said “There are a number of factors that have led to the increase in grass seed prices. It is certainly not a case of the industry just implementing a price hike, but having to pass on the increase in production costs.” “With the sharp rise in world commodity prices, especially wheat, coupled with the pressure on land use for biofuels, finding farmers willing to grow grass seed, let alone increase their acreage is becoming a real problem.” “Currently our UK production totals some 2,000 hectares and harvest 2007 was not an easy one. There were quality problems, due to the bad weather and some crops have now failed germination tests. In addition other crops have been very dirty, resulting in increased cleaning costs and a drop in yield. This difficult harvest, which was replicated across Europe, coupled with the rise in production costs means that all grass seed for the amenity sector will see a price increase this year and possibly next.”
9
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111