BGS 66th Annual General Meeting minutes (draft) 

Held at Heriot Watt University Campus, Edinburgh on Sunday 4th July at the 2010 Summer Meeting.

Variations in currency and exchange rates are adding to the volatility likely to affect global fertiliser prices over the coming season, says GrowHow UK's marketing manager Ken Bowler.

Mr Bowler stresses that fertiliser operates in a global market where many factors beyond our shores will affect prices and availability. Increasing affluence in other areas of the world is seeing demand for fertiliser rise to meet consumer pressure for higher quality, often meat-based, diets. This could lead to demand for nitrogen fertiliser increasing in 2011 by some 6% or more compared to 2009.

This week BGS and the Creedy Associates team hosted 64 visitors at the BGS Nutrient Wise Demos site in Devon (with our desired 15-25 people in each group to allow everyone to be involved in discussions). The visitors were able to see demo plots on manure application methods and introduction of clover into existing swards.

BGS Forage Legume Meeting on Lucerne and Red Clover (held on the 16th June)

In one short sentence, Wil Armitage summed up what a fantastic crop lucerne is at the BGS Lucerne and Red Clover Farm Walk, attended by more than 40 people, at his Leicestershire dairy farm. "Lucerne gave me the confidence to go organic."