Issue 58 / Summer / December 2014

Hi #subname#

Welcome to the December edition of Specialty Seed's SeedData Newsletter.

I'm sure most of you, like me, will be wondering where another year has gone as we move into the Christmas season.

This year in particular has gone rapidly for us, as moving our business took up a lot of time and effort. I'm looking forward to the coming Autumn safe in the fact we are now settled into our new building which is working out better than we had hoped for. Judging by the amount of new clients popping in and favourable comments from our existing clients it appears to working well for all.

In this months "pop up" section we give you a timely reminder of what to look for when making your harvesting decisions with your whole crop cereal silage crops.

This month's newsletter also promotes a very worthwhile cause for cancer research, we look at the Central Plains irrigation scheme and we inform you of our Christmas trading hours.


Please browse these topics below:

• Merry Christmas to all!
• Shear for Life - Fundraising for Cancer research
• The face of Central Canterbury farming set to change

Merry Christmas to all!


On behalf of David, myself and all the team at Specialty Seeds I'd like to wish you and your families a very merry Christmas and happy New Year.

We would also like to thank you for your business during the last year so please keep safe and we look forward to catching up with you all in the New Year.

Please see our Christmas operating hours below. You will see that normal business hours commence on Monday the 5th of January.

Wed 24th Dec: OPEN : 830 - 12pm Thurs 25th Dec: Closed Fri 26th Dec: Closed Mon 29th Dec: OPEN : 830 - 1pm Tues 30st Dec: OPEN : 830 - 1pm Wed 31st Dec: OPEN : 830 - 1pm Thurs 1st Jan: Closed Fri 2nd Jan: Closed Monday 5th Jan: OPEN : 830 - 5pm Normal business hours continue

Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds for more information.


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Shear for Life - Fundraising for Cancer research.


We were recently approached by a client to support a most worthwhile event raising funds for prostate cancer research and treatment.

The event as described below is happening between the 28th of February and Sunday the 1st of March in Central Otago. We were of course very happy to jump on board and I'm looking forward to attending the event as well.

The Challenge...

Two farmers, James Hill from the Teviot Valley and Cole Wells from Tarras, Central Otago, are taking on the task of shearing cross bred lambs for 24 hours to raise money for the research and treatment of prostate cancer.

You can help…

All donations are of course gratefully appriciated and by following the below link are easy to make, I'll let you know how it all went in the March edtion of the Seedata until then keep the donations rolling in.

Cash donations can be made on the event fundraising website: www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/ShearforLife/

I look forward to seeing you there, for more information please contact us.


Website Link: Click here to make a donation directly to Shear for Life
Download Link: Download the flyer for the Shear for Life
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds if you have any questions.

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The face of Central Canterbury farming set to change


I have been spending a fair bit of my time recently up in Hororata west of our office monitoring fodder beet crops for my clients.

One of these days I was in a reflective mood and thought back to my days as a junior grain and seed agent in the area some 37+ years ago and how much it has changed during those years. From dry land sheep and beef farms as it was, too much of the area in highly productive dairy farming. Now seeing this area about to go through another massive change as the infrastructure is starting to be put in place for the long awaited Central Plains irrigation scheme.

In brief the Scheme lies between the Southern Alps to the west of Christchurch, and SH1 and the Waimakariri and Rakaia Rivers, lying entirely within the Selwyn District Council District. The irrigation scheme has been designed for 60,000Ha, with potential to irrigate up to 80,000Ha if more water is available. With a current estimated construction cost of $400 million (excluding on farm costs), the consented CPW Scheme will be one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken in the South Island.

The Scheme will utilise run of river water from both the Rakaia and Waimakariri Rivers. The Rivers will be linked with a 56km headrace canal running around the foothills and will channel water probably via a piped gravity distribution system through 500km of reticulation. Water within the canal will be about 4m deep and 20 - 25m wide at the surface. Irrigable land above the canal can be watered via pumped systems.

Who knows what will eventually happen to this area in terms of farming type but there is no doubt the tough dry land farming days this area often suffered from in my youth will be consigned to history.

For more information on this scheme please follow this Central Plains Water Enhancement Scheme Wikipedia link.

Website Link: Click here to read the Wikipedia article for the Central Plains Water Enhancement Scheme
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds if you have any questions.

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