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Issue 84 / Autumn / April 2017
Hi [firstname]
Welcome to the April edition of the SeedData newsletter. What an Autumn so far!
As I often say, you sometimes have to be careful about what you wish for!
The rain we have had recently, over much of the country, has certainly has broken the drought in a lot of areas and in other done a lot of damage.
Lets hope we have a kind Winter, like last years Winter, to compensate in part for the damage done in some areas.
In this month's SeedData newsletter we will discuss fertility in fodder beet, how to transition onto fodder beet and how to feed and measure your winter brassica crops.
Please browse these topics below:
Fodder Beet fertility or lack thereof.
It was with interest, when I read the results of a recent survey conducted on fodder beet crops fertility by DLF Seeds, a major supplier of fodder beet seed into New Zealand.
While it was limited to crops in the Canterbury region, it did back up my observations of many fodder beet crops throughout the country.
Out of the 21 paddocks tested 15 of them (70%) had a significant fertility deficiency.
This is a huge proportion of our crops.
If this was a true representation of all the crops in New Zealand, (and I think it is) it would add up to many thousands of hectares of crops with a soil deficiency that will be restricting their dry matter yield.
Fodder beet crops got away to a very good start this year and I think most crops (some which are now being grazed) will exceed farmers expectations in terms of dry matter per hectare.
However I can't help but think many crops have missed out on the opportunity of even better yields had they had more fertiliser applied.
Specialty Seeds provide their fodder beet clients with the best plant genetics and expert advice on weed control but up until now have thought soil fertility is better handled by the expert fertiliser companies.
However this has clearly not happened, shame on them! However, because of this we will be putting into place more information on fodder beets fertility requirements for our clients in the coming season... watch this space.
If you want to have a look at the results of this survey click on this link.
Website Link: Check out the Fodder Beet Crops Deficient article on the DLF seeds website.
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds if you would like to discuss.
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Feeding your Winter brassica / fodder beet crop.
Many farmers are either feeding or shortly will be feeding their Winter brassica and fodder beet crops off to their stock.
Over the past few years Specialty Seeds have developed some very useful and downloadable fact sheets with key points on how to transition your stock onto these winter feed crops.
We think at the start of every season farmers should have a quick look at these downloads to refresh their memory cells before you put stock onto these crops as things can go wrong sometimes quite seriously.
You will see that I've also added links to our downloads that show you how to measure the yields of your crops as well.
Knowing your yield is critical to winter green feed crops. We also think that one measurement at the beginning of the season is often not enough.
We believe during the Winter several measurements of these crops will lead to far better grazing management.
Simply click on the links below or if you have any questions please feel free to contact us.
Website Link: Check out the Brassica Downloads on the Specialty Seeds website.
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds if you have any questions.
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Finchy's photos of the month.
Specialty Seeds are so close to our clients these days, we even getting them in to fill up the drill in the carpark so they can get on with the job.
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Raphno, a new brassica from PGG Wrightson Seeds, created a lot of interest at the recently held South Island field days in Kirwee, Canterbury..
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As always, we hope this issue has been of some value to you. If you have a comment on this newsletter or anything on our website, please give us a call on our Freephone: 0800 727 8873, send us an email at: mail@specseed.co.nz.
Kind Regards
Stephen Finch & David Percival
Specialty Seeds - New Zealand
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