AROUND £5m worth of the latest grassland management equipment will be working and on display at the second Grassland North event at Newton Rigg College, Penrith.

More than 4,000 farmers are expected to attend the free event at the college's Sewborwens Farm on Wednesday, May 13. It is organised in conjunction with agricultural machinery suppliers, Carrs Billington.

The day will feature working demonstrations from Kuhn, Krone, Fendt and Massey Ferguson, with opportunities to discuss the latest forage management, including fertilisers, grass seed and preservative.Visitors can also see a display of vintage tractors.

Preparations began in September when 30 acres of grassland was sown at the farm in readiness for the silage making demonstrations – these include trials drilled with high yield high sugar seed.

Matt Bagley, the college's head of agriculture, said: "Grassland North is a key event for farmers interested in seeing the latest equipment and technology from what is a fast moving high tech industry.

"The practical demonstrations, plus the opportunity to see our state of the art dairy unit, and attend our uplands conference are a winning combination, and should not be missed."

Krone's working machinery will include the impressive 10 rotor mounted KW 11.22 tedder; the Comprima XTREME baler wrapper combination and the TC880 twin rotor rake range. The BiG M 420 self-propelled mower will work alongside the latest BiG X 580 and established BiG X 700 forage harvesters.

Making its debut in the North of England will be Kuhn's FC9530 9.5mtr combination rear mower with FC313D front mower. The RW1610e twin post wrapper with patented twin film sticking technology will be present along with the unique hydraulically driven GA13131 4 rotor rake.

Tractors from Massey Ferguson will include the well-established 3600's, 5600's, 6600's, 7600's. The flagship 400hp MF8737 will be in action. Fendt will showcase its full range –from the compact 110hp Fendt 211 to the reverse drive 280hp Fendt 828.

This year's event will include tours of the college's state of the art dairy led by its dairy team and staff from Fullwood. It features a 30:30 Fullwood herringbone parlour, modern cubicle housing and full AI and veterinary handling races.

The dairy was officially opened in March last year and has already led to a marked increase in milk yields and improvements in cow welfare, notably in reducing lameness.

Grassland North coincides with the college's uplands conference which runs from Tuesday to Thursday, May 12-14th, and looks at collaborative use of the uplands.

Entry to Grassland North is free and times are 11am – 7pm. The event was last held in 2012.