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Thank you to all who were able to join us in Tasmania this past November. It was an exceptional meeting, and we thank the local arrangements team for organizing such a wonderful event.

You can now see the conference proceedings from this year’s meeting by visiting our Publications page and navigating to the Conference Proceedings section, or you can directly access them here.

Thank you for your continued support of the International Herbage Seed Group. We will be in touch in the coming months with Newsletters, additional ways to get involved and more information on our next meeting.

Happy New Year IHSG!

Do not forget, Abstract Submission is now open for the 12th IHSG Conference in Launceston, Tasmania this November. Submit abstracts any time prior to 30 May, 2025. All abstracts will incur a AU$40.00 processing fee. Abstracts should be submitted in English and should focus on pasture/herbage seed production of both temperate and tropical grass and legume species. Abstracts can be submitted for oral or poster presentations. This is an excellent opportunity to present your research to a global audience and all are encouraged to submit! Instructions for how to submit are available on the Conference Website Abstract Submission Page.

While you are at it, make sure to Register for the conference, too! The conference will be held from 16 to 19 November, 2025, followed by a post-conference tour from 20 to 22 November, 2025. Registration for the conference is now open. Tickets will be available until 1 August, 2025 or until they are sold out. Tickets are available for Conference Delegates, the Post-Conference Tour, and Accompanying Persons. Instructions for how to register and registration rates are available on the Conference Website Registration Page. For all other details, including travel information, visit the Conference Website.

We are so excited to gather in Tasmania this November and we hope to see as many of you there as possible. Please spread the word to your networks and consider submitting an abstract today.

We are also introducing a new IHSG Job Board! Are you looking for a position in the seed industry? Do you have a job to fill related to the seed industry? Look no further than the IHSG Job Board. Here, you’ll find Current Listings for jobs in the seed industry. We also have a Form to submit your own job posts for available positions. All submitted posts will be added to the online Job Board within 5 business days. Any questions can be directed to our Web Team at internationalherbageseedgroup@gmail.com. Check out the board today.

Our latest newsletter is available for reading on our Current Newsletters Page.

In this edition, we have information regarding the upcoming 12th IHSG Conference in Tasmania. Be sure to check out the Meeting Website for more details, as Abstracts and Registration are open now.

And all should be aware that FAR’s Arable Research In Action Field Day will occur in the week after IHSG Tasmania in New Zealand. If you are able to extend your trip to 26 November, 2025, this would make for a great addition to the IHSG Conference. See the FAR Website for details.

We also have articles about the recent Canadian Turf and Forage Seed Conference, an update from the UK on production outlooks, and a subject matter update focused on international plant pathology concerns for the industry.

Finally, we have amazing members to feature. As many are aware, Tom Chastain has retired, and this edition pays tribute to his contribution to the global herbage seed industry. We also share about a new position for Nicole Anderson as a research scientist for NIBIO in Norway. And we are looking to highlight the next generation in the herbage seed industry. We kick this series off by introducing everyone to Ana Faber of INIA in Uruguay.

If you would like to share a story idea, please fill out our Form or email us at internationalherbageseedgroup@gmail.com.

We are excited to announce that the 11^th IHSG Conference will be held in Angers France in June 2023.  Attendees will arrive on June 11^th with the conference sessions starting on June 12^th and ending on June 14^th.  There will also be an optional post-conference tour that is scheduled to take place from June 15^th through June 17^th. 

Please mark these dates on your calendar.  More details to come.

Image above – Château d’Angers (DXR, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Talon Gauthier & Susie Lefferson

On February 25^th and 26^th, 2020 forage seed growers, researchers, extension staff and agribusinesses will congregate for the first Canadian Forage Seed Conference since 2006!  The conference will be hosted at the Fantasyland Hotel which is attached to the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The goal of this conference is to unite the industry throughout Canada and increase awareness and interest in forage seed production.  With the current challenges in Canadian grain markets, we have a great opportunity to increase awareness of the benefits of incorporating forage seed crops into any cropping system.  Perennial forage seed crops can offer these growers market diversity and dispersal of timing in terms of workload.  For the faithful forage seed grower, it will be an opportunity to hear about new technologies in the industry and where research is headed.  As Bruce Coulman recently said, “It is an exciting time to be involved in research on forages as there is more money invested now in Canada than there ever has been”!

Conference planning has been underway for almost a year and some great speakers have been confirmed to join us in Edmonton!  We are very excited to have speakers traveling from Oregon, Minnesota and hopefully beyond to bring an international perspective to the conference.  Below is a draft agenda for the two days that is still being developed.

February 25^th, 2020

8:00 am	Breakfast
8:50 am	Welcome & Housekeeping
9:00 am	Seed Yield & Seed Shattering with Different Swathers – Nicole Anderson, OSU*
9:30 am	International Market Report – Turf Grasses – TBA
10:00 am	Remote Sensing for Pest Management – Chris Neeser, AB Ag & Forestry
10:30 am	Coffee & Snack Break
11:00 am	Forage Breeding in Canada – Bill Biligetu, University of Saskatchewan
11:30 am	International Market Report – Forage Legumes – TBA
12:00 pm	Lunch
	Grass & Clover Sessions	Alfalfa Sessions
1:30 pm	Perennial Ryegrass Production Systems – Dave Grafstrom, University of Minnesota	Western Canada Alfalfa Weevil Project – Boyd Mori, University of Alberta
2:00 pm	Lesser Clover Leaf Weevil Project – Dan Malamura, University of Saskatchewan	Parasite Control in Leafcutter Bees with Cinnamon – Danica Baines, AAFC* Lethbridge
2:30 pm	Insects in Grass & Clover Crops – Jennifer Otani, AAFC* Beaverlodge	Lygus in Alfalfa – Hector Carcamo, AAFC* Lethbridge
3:00 pm	Growth Regulators in Grasses & Clovers – Calvin Yoder, Roger Burak, Nicole Anderson	Innovations in Irrigation Technology OR World Trends in Hay Exports OR Legume Breeding
3:45 pm	Coffee & Snack Break
4:00 pm	PRFSA Annual General Meeting
5:30 pm	Supper (On Your Own)
7:30 pm	Wine & Cheese

*OSU = Oregon State University, AAFC = Agriculture & AgriFood Canada

February 26^th, 2020

8:00 am	Breakfast
9:00 am	Technology to Monitor Crop Health – Matthias Loesken, Blackbird Environmental
9:30 am	International Market Report – Forage Grasses – TBA
10:00 am	Virtual Farm Tour – Brett Rudd, Idaho
10:30 am	Coffee & Snack Break
11:00 am	Crop Rotations, Economics & Benefits – Nityananda Khanal, AAFC Beaverlodge
11:30 am	Prairie Pesticide Minor Use Consortium Overview & Representative Grasses Project Update – Ron Pidskalny, Strategic Vision Consulting Ltd.
12:00 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm	Crop Protection Options – Calvin Yoder or panel
2:00 pm	Cover Crops: Mixes & Opportunities – Mike Schellenberg, AAFC Swift Current
2:30 pm	Carbon sequestration in Forage Seed Production OR Legume Inoculants in Canada
3:00 pm	Conference Ends

We hope that you now feel as excited about the conference as we are and have marked the dates in your calendar to join us in Edmonton next February.  Registration is CAD $250/person and more information will continually be posted on the conference webpage: www.peaceforageseed.ca/fsconference/.

Please feel free to contact Talon Gauthier at coordinator@peaceforageseed.ca or 1 877 630 2198.