The event is one of three held across the state to help engage farmers and industry representatives about the role of TIA and how it assists particular regions.

About 15 people attended the workshop at Ross with presentations that looked at Sheep Connect Tasmania and the herbage development program.

Sheep Connect Tasmania is a program developed to equip those in the wool and sheep industries access to information about what is happening in the sector, with hardcopy and e-newsletters and industry events.

Project manager James Tyson said the program aimed to bring together those in the industry and cater to the way they like to consume information. Based on recent TIA data, there are 266 purely sheep operations in Tasmania and about 442 farms that have sheep as some element.

Herbage development program project leader Rowan Smith spoke about the importance of the program in developing perennial grass species for use in mid-to-low rainfall areas, such as Ross and the Midlands.

The HDP was established in the 1990s as a response to a need for better pasture management systems in those areas and developed species from seeds across the world and from the state’s seed bank.

TIA director Holger Meinke said the roadshow was a way to engage farmers and educate them about the role TIA plays in research and development. It is the second time the roadshows have been held but they will become an annual winter event. The TIA roadshow will be held at Scottsdale on August 11 from 12pm at Anabel’s of Scottsdale.