May has come and gone in the blink of an eye, continuing the fast pace of the year so far!

Agfest Success
AgFest remains a highlight in our calendar, with months of preparation going into ensuring our plants are looking their best for the field day. We were thrilled to be awarded Best Small Site 2025—a fantastic recognition of the hard work and attention to detail from the entire team.

Trial Update
Our long rotation trials have bounced back well following the summer, responding strongly to irrigation from mid-March. As we head into the second year of growth, we’re particularly excited to observe the performance of the newest varieties and a diverse range of hybrids.

Weather-wise, Tasmania has certainly felt the shift into cooler conditions. May brought multiple mornings dipping to minus 3°C, and even a crisp minus 5°C—conditions that always keep us on our toes.

Nursery Expansion
We’re pleased to report that we’ve begun construction on Phase 4 of our plant breeding nursery. Some of you may recall when Phase 1 was completed, we weren’t quite sure how we’d fill it—yet here we are again, expanding to accommodate the next stage of our 2025 breeding program.

The new mats, along with rested mats from previous years, will provide critical infrastructure for this year’s planting season. The freshly laid area—350 square metres in total—is now bedded in, awaiting thousands of carefully placed holes and the young plants that will occupy them.

We look forward to sharing more as the season progresses.

Warm regards,

The Team at Upper Murray Seeds