Some €16,000 worth of Agritech grass seed has been stolen from a farmyard near Kinnegad, Co Meath, over the weekend.

Over 200 bags of grass seed branded 'Tipperary Grass' were taken.

Brian O’Slatarra, managing director of Agritech, which is head-quartered outside Nenagh, Co Tipperary, has said that grass seed cannot be sold without a Department of Agriculture label detailing the grass seed mixture and batch number and, consequently, gardaí are aware of the batch numbers relating to each bag.

The Puckane native is urging farmers to be extra vigilant and be mindful of the theft when purchasing grass seed or when offered grass seed for sale.

'Unusual' theft

Furthermore, Agritech is offering a €5,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of this seed, deemed a very unusual theft.

O'Slatarra told the Irish Farmers Journal on Monday evening that there was three or four mixtures of species within the amount stolen.

"It's a most unusual one, never in 40 years have we seen anything like this.

"It's only our own sales reps who sell it; we don't sell to merchants, so you'd imagine they'd have to flog it," he said.

O'Slatarra also said that whoever stole the grass seed had to handball 200 bags over a four-foot wall - "that's not an easy thing to do," he added.

Gardai have launched an investigation and the matter is being handled by Trim Garda Station.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the station on 046-948 1540.