Biomass Connect Webinar No. 9
October 17 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Plan Bs – How to turn it around when something goes wrong
Our popular webinar series is back for Season 3 and hits the ground running!
When you are managing a perennial biomass crop with a 20 year+ lifetime, it is unlikely that it will all be plain sailing. There’s a lot that can go wrong: Weeds, rabbits, deer, pests, diseases, gappy crops, floods, droughts, changes in legislation, schemes and markets are all possible things that growers will have to face at one point or another. This webinar will provide some possible options to meet these challenges and get the most out of your crop. Any grower who’s got a problem should tune in and ask the expert panel of “agony aunts” for advice.
The webinar will focus mainly on Short Rotation Coppice willow and Miscanthus crops but many of the issues addressed will be familiar to any perennial biomass crop. Our very knowledgeable panel (Will Macalpine of Rothamsted Research and Chris Ashman of Aberystwyth University) have dealt with most of these issues over the years so have first hand experience of how to find a solution whenever reality throws a curveball.
Our Speakers will be William Macalpine, plant breeder at Rothamsted Research and Chris Ashman, Post-doctoral research associate at Aberystwyth University.
Speakers:
William Macalpine: Rothamsted Research
Will Macalpine
William is a willow breeder at Rothamsted Research. He has over 21 years’ experience in willow breeding, perennial energy crop agronomy and in making phenotypic and physiological measurements. He has performed over 700 crosses, carried out research to overcome crossing barriers, produced mapping populations and elite SRC willow varieties. He has planned, planted and managed around 100 perennial energy crop field trials. William has an in-depth knowledge of the UK National Willow Collection, a unique Salix germplasm resource, which is located at Rothamsted Research.
Chris Ashman: Aberystwyth University
Post-doctoral research associate at IBERS and Demonstrator Hub manager at the Biomass Connect Aberystwyth site.
Chris Ashman