GRASSLAND & Muck 2020 will be held at the Ragley Estate in Warwickshire on May 20 and 21 next year.

Work has already begun on preparing the site with a mix of silage and grazing leys being drilled in readiness for the event.

The triennnial event is organised by the Royal Society of England and is billed as the UK's number one working machinery event. In 2017, it attracted more than 11,000 visitors and 279 exhibitors to a 190-acre site at Stoneleigh.

Next year's event will cover 206 acres, including 170 acres of silage fields used for live grass harvesting, baling, clamping and muck spreading. A wide variety of the latest machines and equipment will be in action, alongside a rotational grazing feature demonstrating how to maximise performance from mob grazing.

Seed partner DLF recommended a short-term, very vigorous mix for the silage ley featuring the new Festulolium Perseus - the only grass to achieve a maximum score of nine for crown rust resistance on the BSPB recommended list.

The mix also includes the high performing multi-cut Westerwold variety Lolan and the top performing Italian ryegrass, Alamo.

The Century grazing mix features late-heading grasses which produce a very dense, hard wearing sward with excellent palatability and D values. Varieties include the new perennial ryegrasses Nashota and Thegn, alongside Cancan, Romark, Toddington and the Timothy grass, Winnetou.

Visitors will be able to see the Century mix grown with and without clover, and individual plots of Nashota and Thegn.

Alice Bell, event organiser, said: "Visitors will be able to see a wide range of the latest grass and muck machinery in action, alongside plots of new grass varieties and a packed technical programme.

"With leading industry partners and all the major manufacturers present, everything is tailored to helping farmers get more from their grass. With 94 per cent of visitors rating Grassland & Muck 2017 as good to excellent, visitors to the 2020 event are sure to be inspired."