Scientific programme
36th EUCARPIA Fodder Crops and Amenity Grasses Section Conference, 1-5 September 2025, Aberystwyth, Wales
Monday, 1 September – arrival and scenic walk on Coastal Path (afternoon)
18:00-20:00 Registration/Welcome drink
20:00-20:45 David Lloyd: A brief history of forage breeding in the UK: Lessons from the past and challenges for the future
Tuesday, 2 September
09:00-09:10 Welcome speeches
09:10 - 9:40 Invited speech: Iain Donnison (Director of IBERS): Climate-resilient grasslands and the net zero agricultural transition
09:40-10:45 Session 1: Diversifying breeding populations (back to the wild) – chaired by Bernadette Julier (bernadette.julier@inrae.fr), Luciano Pecetti (luciano.pecetti@crea.gov.it)
09:40-10:25 Invited speaker: Andrew Griffiths: Harnessing untapped diversity in white clover: core collections and landscape genomics
10:25-10:45 flash talks
Shane Fagan: Linking Genome Diversity to Root Architecture and Growth Dynamics in Perennial Ryegrass
Ivana Frei: Wild Vicia species: Genetic Resources for Agroecology and Ecosystem Restoration
Annie Claessens: New forage species for a changing climate
Kajsa Lätt: Effects of nitrogen fertilization and harvest timing on forage quality of Intermediate Wheatgrass, Kernza
10:45-11:15 Coffee break
11:20-12:40 Session 1 (continued)
11:15-11:35 Damian Käch: Monitoring genetic diversity: unveiling species and cultivar dynamics in temporary grassland
11:35-11:55 Irving Arcia Ruiz: Uncovering the role of phenotypic traits in shaping the genetic structure of alfalfa
11:55-12:15 Mareike Kavka: Genetic diversity of Medicago species within the German Ex situ Gene Bank
12:15-12:35 Hari Poudel: Genome-wide analysis of genetic diversity in sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop. ) using genotype-by-sequencing
12:35-13:50 Lunch
13:50-15:20 Session 2: Advanced phenotyping and genotyping technologies – chaired by Ingo Lenk, il@dlf.dk
13:50-14:10 Mallikarjuna Rao Kovi/Odd Arne Rognli: Predictive Modeling for Timothy Grass Yield Under Future Climate Scenarios in Norway using Machine learning models
14:10-14:30 Stephen Byrne: Improving forage nutritive value using harvester-mounted NIRS
14:30-14:50 Cree King: Genomic Insights into Segregation Distortion and Heterozygosity in Diploid Alfalfa
14:50-15:20 flash talks
Marie Pegard/Bernadette Julier: Enhanced Genome Assemblies of French-Bred Dactylis glomerata and Medicago sativa: Achieving High-Quality Tetraploid Genomes
Divino Rosa dos Santos Junior: Accelerating Breeding in Perennial Ryegrass Through Artificial Vernalization and Speed Breeding
Arnaud Desbiez-Piat: A Virtual Breeding System for Sustainable Forage Mixtures: Linking Quantitative Genetics and Functional-Structural Plant Modeling
Luned Roberts: Exploring the expression and genetic control of Polyphenol Oxidases across a diverse range of red clover germplasm to guide the development of varieties suited to specific markets
Bernadette Julier: Development of NIRS equations to predict biochemical composition of annual clovers
15:20-16:00 Coffee break
16:00-17:00 Session 2 (continued)
16:00-16:20 Michelle Nay: Towards marker-assisted selection for anthracnose resistance, clover rot resistance and freezing tolerance in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.)
16:20-16:40 Adrianna Czapiewska: Generation of Festuca glaucescens plants with mutations in the gene coding chloroplastic lipocalin by the use of CRISPR/Cas9 technology
16:40-17:00 Yousef Rahimi: Genome-wide association study (GWAS) reveals loci associated with forage biomass and development in hexaploid timothy grass
17:00-18:00 Board meeting
Wednesday, 3 September
09:00-10:45 Session 3: Qualitative and quantitative traits – chaired by Stephen Byrne (Stephen.Byrne@teagasc.ie) and Michelle Nay (michelle.nay@agroscope.admin.ch)
09:00 -09:45 Invited speaker: Charlie Brummer: A possible future for alfalfa production
09:45-10:05 Mallikarjuna Rao Kovi/Odd Arne Rognli: Genetic Basis and Improvement Strategies for Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)
10:05-10:25 Gary Strain: RNAseq Based Evaluation of How Perennial Ryegrass Vernalization and Flowering Responds to a Warming Climate
10:25-10:40 flash talks
Jana Staveníková: Multiple Selection of Red Clover Based on Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation
Zineb EL GHAZZAL/Bernadette Julier: Genetic and phenotypic diversity of lucerne (Medicago sativa) for optimising its role as a living mulch in agroecological systems
Mallikarjuna Rao Kovi: Genome Assembly and Genomic Selection to Accelerate Timothy Grass Breeding Programs
10:40-11:15 Coffee break
11:15-12:35 Session 3 (continued)
11:15-11:35 Tim Vleugels: Yield of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) differs remarkably between monoculture and grassclover
11:35-11:55 Amanda Ama Amissah: Predicting seed set of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)
11:55-12:15 Jenny Kiesbauer: A first nested association mapping population for Italian ryegrass reveals candidate genes for seed shattering and seed yield-related traits
12:15-12:35 Jhih-Sheng Liu: Genomic improvement of persistence in white clover
12:35-13:45 Lunch
13:45-17:00 Tour to IBERS and Germinal field sites
Thursday, 4 September
09:00-10:50 Session 4: Biotic and abiotic stresses, chaired by Kristina Jaškūnė (kristina.jaskune@lammc.lt) and Gary Strain (Gary.Strain@afbini.gov.uk)
09:00-09:45 Invited speaker: Åshild Ergon: Winter survival in red clover - cold acclimation, growth and interactions among stresses
09:45-10:05 Annick Bertrand: Metabolic changes associated with the selection for freezing tolerance in alfalfa affects spring regrowth and the recruitment of soil microbiome
10:05-10:20 flash talks
Jan Safar: Resistance breeding of red clover for selected fungal and viral diseases
Dawid Perlikowski: Membrane lipids and primary metabolites accumulated in crown tissue affects winter-hardiness and frost tolerance in Festuca arundinacea.
Shridhar Jambagi: Red clover's battle against root rot and clover rot: An UDP-glycosyltransferase gene turns clover into a root rot warrior
10:20-10:45 Conference photo
10:45-11:15 Coffee break
11:15-12:35 Session 4 (continued)
11:15-11:35 Luciano Pecetti: Breeding drought tolerant forage crops in Mediterranean regions. Annuals or perennials? Pure stands or mixtures? Which legume plant ideotype?
11:35-11:55 Rémi Ollivier: Identification of the genetic architecture of stem rust resistance in perennial ryegrass
11:55-12:15 Rossana Henriques: Climate-resilient forage crops: identifying molecular hubs for multi-stress responses
12:15-12:35 Bernadette Julier: Genetic control of anthracnose resistance in lucerne, consequence in breeding
12:35-13:45 Lunch
13:45-14:25 Session 4 (continued)
13:45-14:05 Kristina Jaškūnė: Transcriptional Signatures Underlying Freezing Tolerance in Perennial Ryegrass Genotypes
14:05-14:25 Filip Bekčić: Binucleate Rhizoctonia AG-A pathogen of red clover in Serbia
14:25-15:00 EUCARPIA Business meeting for all participants
15:00-15:30 Coffee break
16:00-18:00 City tour (tentative)
19:00-22:00 Conference dinner
Friday, 5 September
09:00-10:50 Session 5: Polyploidy and interspecific hybridization, chaired by David Kopecký (kopecky@ueb.cas.cz) and Julia Górna (jgor@igr.poznan.pl)
09:00-09:45 Invited speaker: German Spangenberg: Applied systems biology and predictive breeding in pastures and forages
09:45-10:05 Daniela Kupper: From Sequence to Cross-Compatibility Prediction: A Functional Analysis of Self-Incompatibility Haplotypes in Forage Grasses
10:05-10:25 Julia Górna: Physiological traits of cellular membranes associated with frost tolerance in Festuca arundinacea and Lolium multiflorum × F. arundinacea hybrids distinct in winter hardiness
10:25-10:55 flash talks
Joanna Cerazy-Waliszewska: The effect of various species of arsenic on plant growth, major elements accumulation, physiological processes two Miscanthus × giganteus genotypes
Christoph Grieder: Use of seedling root fluorescence for high throughput detection of Lolium multiflorum introgressions in L. perenne breeding populations
Rosa Jauregui: Advances in the Interspecific Urochloa Breeding Program 25 Years After the Release of Its First Apomictic Cultivar – transitioning to the omics era
Metin Tuna: Induction and Evaluation of Tetraploids in Annual Ryegrass
Beat Boller: High productivity of Festuca apennina x pratensis hybrids is not linked to inferior forage quality
10:55-11:25 Coffee break
11:25-11:45 Girma Bedada: Deciphering the complex genomic architectures, origins and evolution of timothy grasses (Phleum species)
11:45-12:05 David Kopecký: Alien introgression revisited – what they are and how they are maintained in the host genome
12:05-12:35 Conference closure (prize giving ceremony, take-home messages)
12:35-13:45 Lunch
Departure