Sixth-generation family company Germinal, a pioneer in the development of grass and forage seed solutions, has launched a new range of ‘Climate Smart’ products it says will make it easier for farmers to select seed mixtures to meet key environmental challenges facing grassland farming while protecting grass and forage output.
Marking its 200th anniversary in 2025, Germinal has had two centuries of innovation in supporting farming and food production, evolving from its Belfast origins into a leader in the global seeds industry.
Today, it is a leading brand within the Openfolde Group, with over three-quarters of the group’s 108 employees based across its Belfast headquarters and six additional sites in Ireland, Britain and New Zealand.
Germinal has releases the new Climate Smart range of five cutting-edge seed products under the banners: CLEAN, THRIVE, ADAPT, CAPTURE, and RESTORE.
The science-led grass and forage seed solutions feature significant innovation in supporting livestock farmers and food producers on the journey to net zero.
They include forage varieties that provide critical environmental benefits including reduced emissions, soil and biodiversity support, greater plant resilience, improved nutrient use efficiency and specially tailored products to meet the requirements of government supported environmental schemes.
Each product brings its own unique benefits, from reducing emissions of greenhouse gases to lowering fertiliser usage and improving soil health and biodiversity, with crossover benefits between products.
Much of the innovation incorporated into the Climate Smart range has been 20 years in the making, developed by the company’s research division Germinal Horizon, based at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Science (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University in Wales.
Germinal UK and Ireland managing director Paul Billings said: “In the next 40 years, the UN predicts that farmers must produce as much food as they have produced in the last 1,000 years.
“The role and importance of farmers in producing and securing food supplies is set to become even more critical. “However, farming is also central to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and addressing climate change.”
He added: “In the face of these challenges how we farm will change. Climate Smart is about growing the right crops in the right places. These new products will make it easier for farmers to select the right seed mix for their specific needs so that farming and the food industry can meet rising food production challenges whilst lowering environmental impacts and adapt to changing weather patterns with improved crop resilience.
“Farmers have to protect their farms for future generations by changing today so they can remain profitable, produce food and reduce emissions. If you can tick all of those three boxes you are being climate smart.”
