Sixth-generation family firm, founded in Belfast in 1825, goes back to their 'roots' evolving into a leader in the global seeds industry

Germinal, a sixth-generation family company founded in Belfast in 1825 has unveiled its new Climate Smart range of seed products aimed at helping farmers navigate key environmental challenges in grassland farming, while safeguarding grass and forage production.

As it marks its 200th anniversary in 2025, Germinal is celebrating two centuries of innovation in supporting agriculture and food production. From its humble beginnings in Belfast, the company has evolved into a global leader in the seed industry, now part of the Openfolde group and employing over 108 staff across six locations in Ireland, Great Britain, and New Zealand.

The new Climate Smart range, featuring five advanced seed products – Clean, Thrive, Adapt, Capture, and Restore – demonstrates Germinal’s continued commitment to supporting livestock farmers and food producers in their efforts to reach Net Zero. These products offer innovative, science-driven solutions aimed at reducing emissions, improving soil health, increasing plant resilience, and enhancing biodiversity.

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.

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.

“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.”

The Climate Smart range reflects Germinal’s enduring commitment to primary research and the development of plant varieties that achieve significant breakthroughs in forage performance and in answering the key sustainability questions facing farming.

Much of the innovation incorporated into the Climate Smart range has been 20 years in the making, developed by Germinal’s R&D division, Germinal Horizon, which is based at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Science (IBERS) which is located at Aberystwyth University in Wales.

Leading the development of the Climate Smart range in meeting the performance and sustainability demands of farmers in Northern Ireland, David Little, agricultural product manager at Germinal Ireland, brings a local perspective to this groundbreaking innovation. Born and raised on a beef farm near Banbridge, Co. Down, David’s deep understanding of grass-based production underpins his passion for supporting livestock farmers.

He explained: “Farmers in Northern Ireland and beyond rely on grass as the cornerstone of livestock production. Climate Smart products combine sustainability with performance, giving farmers the tools they need to adapt to evolving environmental challenges while staying productive.”

The new products contain the latest proven plant breeding innovations from Germinal, including the top-performing Aber High Sugar Grass varieties which increase protein absorption and reduce ammonia emissions, and the hybrid clover, DoubleRoot which combines stolons and rhizomes, making it more resilient to grazing, drought and freezing temperatures, while fixing nitrogen. These have been exclusively developed by IBERS and Germinal Horizon.

Future plant breeding innovations being developed by Germinal Horizon will be added to the Climate Smart range as they come to fruition. These include the new grazing-resistant red clover, RedRunner, that provides the greater protein availability of red clovers but with improved persistency, particularly under grazing conditions. And DeepRoot, which has been bred from crossing the North African fescue species, Atlas, with Aber High Sugar Grasses to produce a high quality Festulolium hybrid grass with the persistence and deep rooting drought tolerance of Atlas fescue.

Future varietal and on-farm system innovations being developed as part of the groundbreaking and UK government funded NUE-Leg Project will be incorporated into the Climate Smart range as they become available.

From its beginnings in Belfast, Germinal has grown to become a global player. Its products are exported to 25 countries across five continents, with particular focus on the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand. The Climate Smart range will initially be rolled out across the UK and Ireland, underscoring Germinal’s position as an export leader and a proud Belfast-based business at the forefront of tackling the climate challenge.

Ben Wixey, agricultural director Germinal UK and Ireland, added: “Germinal is continually looking to the future to anticipate the profitability and environmental challenges that farmers are facing now and in the future.

“Plant breeding already holds the key to unlocking the solutions farmers need and Germinal has many more exciting developments in our product development pipeline.”

Germinal’s new Climate Smart products will be available in grazing, silage/feed conservation and dual-purpose options.

Climate Smart Products will be available to farmers through agricultural retailers and resellers of Germinal products throughout Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Great Britain.