BEEF and sheep farms are needed for a new project designed to help the industry improve its grassland management, something now acknowledged as a key driver of profitability.

Recent research by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute has found that improving pasture harvests by one tonne per hectare is worth an additional £204 per hectare per year to a beef farmer.

The farms of those who sign up will be monitored to benchmark current performance and to evaluate innovative management practices.

Dr Liz Genever, of AHDB Beef & Lamb, said: “As the extent of the problems associated with the prolonged dry weather become increasingly apparent, there is an opportunity to help minimise the impact of similar occurrences in the future.”

The participants will be required to measure grass each week throughout the grazing season and to send samples away for analysis. Automatic weather stations will also be installed to record temperature, rainfall and hours of sunshine.

Application forms can be downloaded from www.CIELivestock.co.uk.