Dutch seed company, Barenbrug and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) are to end their long-standing partnership in grass breeding work done at AFBI’s site in Loughgall in Co Armagh.

In a statement, the two parties said that had come to a mutual agreement to “explore independent paths in grass breeding and agricultural innovation”.

The partnership has been in place since 1991 and is to come to an end in late 2026. It gave Barenbrug the world marketing rights for new grasses bred at Loughgall, while AFBI was given access to varieties across a world-wide network of Barenbrug sites.

However, core funding for the grass variety work at Loughgall still comes from DAERA and that should not be impacted by the end of the Barenbrug relationship.

“While this phase of our work ends, AFBI will continue to remain committed to supporting DAERA and the wider NI agri-food industry through delivery of a forward looking grassland research programme,” said Professor Elizabeth Magowan from AFBI.