Forage seed users consider that global warming will be a serious issue in the future. To analyse the possible impact of consumer concerns on the forage seed market, we first need to define how an awareness of global warming might translate into purchasing behaviour. One option is to look for an increase in sales of species that are well adapted to drought (e.g., orchard grass, tall fescue, brome grass, lucerne, bird's-foot trefoil); however, no such trend was observed at this time. A second option is to look for an increase in sales of specks that establish themselves in the autumn, avoiding the ever less favourable conditions of the late summer. We did see a possible increase in the use of meslin, as evidenced by rapid growth in sales of winter forage pea seeds, which reflect the aforementioned concerns. Lastly, for two of the main forage species (perennial ryegrass and red clover), we observed (on herbe-book.org) an increase in market shares for varieties with the earliest development and with the greatest summer yields. In general, the market reflects that users are seeking to avoid global warming-related risks rather than to directly adapt to them.
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