Issue 59 / Summer / January 2015

Hi #subname#

Happy new year and welcome to the January edition of Specialty Seed's SeedData Newsletter.

Thanks for taking the time to read our newsletter. We hope that it finds you all well and refreshed after the festive season, and ready to get stuck into yet another year.

I was lucky enough to get a few days off over the new year period and I was quite surprised how quickly things dried out during that time. I suppose we all enjoy the nice weather when not at work and the arable farmers have enjoyed the early harvest weather. However from a dryland pastoral farmer's point of view it's currently less than ideal.

This season sees seed stocks for most products in very good supply with the exceptions being Red clover and Tonic Plantain.

Red clover is in a very tight position however we anticipated this a bit and think we can get by okay for the Autumn season.

Tonic plantain however is gone burger until harvest 2015. I reckon it will not be available until the end of February at the earliest, but please see the article on Hercules plantain below as an alternative product.


Please browse the topics below:

• Shear for Life - Fundraising for Cancer research.
• Sow and Save promotion
• Sub Clover and Cocksfoot - A match made in dryland heaven
• Hercules Plantain

Shear for Life - Fundraising for Cancer research.


We first mentioned the 'Shear for Life' cancer fundraiser in our December newsletter.

The funds raised from the event will be put towards the treatment and research of prostate cancer making it a very, very worthwhile effort by all involved.


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.

Dates and Location:

This event is being held between the 28th of February and Sunday the 1st of March in Central Otago

Please use the following links for more information or to make a donation. All donations are very gratefully received.


Website Link: Donate directly to Shear for Life
Download Link: Download the Shear for Life flyer
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds if you have any questions.


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Sow and Save promotion.


Late last year it became quite obvious that this season's Dairy pay out was going to be less than the near record levels it's been at during the last two years in particular.

The reasons for this drop are well documented and not for me to dwell on to much in this publication, other than to say thankfully it looks, at this stage, to be a hiccup in what looks to be a very bright medium to long term future for New Zealand agriculture.

One criticism I often hear, when an event like this occurs, is that while the price for milk drops, lowering income, other expenses either remain the same or increase in price. Well for this Sow and Save promotion that's stopping!

Over the last 10 years we have marketed our "Generator Value Blend" (GVB) seed mix with great results for our clients. The GVB is a mix of tetraploid and diploid perennial and Italian ryegrasses with white clover and timothy. We recommend it be sown at 30 kgs per hectare and will provide farmers with 2-4 years excellent production at the least. It has always been at a great price per hectare and that's just got better!


Sow and Save promotion details:

This season we are selling our Generator Value Blend seed mix at the price that Fonterra fix their milk solid price at which currently is at $5.70 per kilogram. Should the price drop below this level then we will drop the per kilogram price of the mix to match it. If you have already purchased your seed before any drop in price then we will contact you to make arrangements on how you want to receive the difference.

This promotion is open to all and every farmer not just dairy farmers, which is great as the Generator Value Blend seed mix works really well across all farming types and farm situations.


Website Link: Click here to see the Sow and Save promotion page including the promotion Terms and conditions
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds if you have any questions.

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Sub Clover and Cocksfoot - A match made in dryland heaven.


As some of you might noticed I'm mildly addicted into trying to find pastoral solutions for our many dryland farmers. I think the reason for this is the challenge it presents, is vastly more difficult than finding pastoral solutions for our irrigated clients or clients in areas of high rainfall.

In our October newsletter I suggested two mixes that I have seen work very well for our dry land clients. We suggest one mix for spring sowing's and another for autumn sowing, the only difference being the addition of sub clover to the autumn mix. Both of these Dryland seed mixes can be downloaded below.

Specialty Seed's Downloads:

• Dryland Seed Mixes

I recently re-read (and thought I'd share it with you) some excellent trial work done by Beef + Lamb New Zealand on the use of sub clover and cocksfoot on dry land farms to improve both pasture yield and stock performance. The following three links will make very worthwhile reading for any dry land farmer looking to achieve similar goals.

Beef and Lamb New Zealand - Research Articles:

• Annual Legumes enhance Animal Production from Summer dry pastures
• Using Clover and Nitrogen To improve Cocksfoot Dryland Pastures
• Using Subterranean Clover

Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have on finding a suitable dryland seed mix for your farm.

Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds if you have any questions.

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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