Issue 53 / Winter / July 2014

Hi #subname#

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

I'm writing this edition a bit early this month as for most of July I'll be away on a holiday / business trip.

As I write this we are enjoying a very mild winter and after good rain most areas we have had can look forward to hopefully a good spring.

In this month's edition we will look at our new building, a new rape that has impressed us over these last few months and talk about fodder beet for the coming season.


This month we will cover the following topics:

• Specialty Seed's new building - Rolleston, Canterbury
• Pillar forage rape - looking promising
• Its Fodder beet time!
• New fodder beet cultivars for the 2014/2015 season

Specialty Seed's new building - Rolleston, Canterbury


As you can see from the photo below Specialty Seeds are nearly into our new premises in Rolleston.

A quote from a recently screened TV advert: "she's pretty big job" sums it up perfectly. To see it reach its final stages is a relief to us all. By the time you receive this newsletter we will (should) be operating from it.

Our new physical address is: 10 Centrum Lane, Izone Industrial Park, Rolleston. See the map below for driving instructions from Christchurch.

Izone Industrial Park: 15 kilometres south of Christchurch.

Should you ever be passing by, please feel free to pop in for a cuppa! Other than our new physical address above, all our contact details remain unchanged.

For us it's a major step forward and will future proof Specialty Seeds for many years to come. Just about every part of the business from phone systems to seed mixers have been updated the only thing we haven't changed is our high level of customer service expectations.

Over the next month or two we will be making further comments surrounding on the move. We have also been working on our new look web site which will be up and running soon.


Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds for more information.


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Pillar forage rape - looking promising



Specialty Seeds were recently invited to inspect an extensive forage rape trial just South of Christchurch. The trial was run by Cropmark Seeds. We found the time spent very useful.

The trial contained most of the commonly used forage rape cultivars currently available as well of a wide range of potential new cultivars from around the world.

The first cultivar to be released from Cropmark Seeds is to be called 'Pillar'. There will be a limited seed supply available this coming Spring with more available ex harvest 2015.

Where does Pillar rape fit?

Pillar is a fast establishing leafy giant type that is suitable for all stock types, highly disease resistant with moderate to good aphid tolerance.

Pillar has a days to grazing maturity time of between 90-110 days and is suitable for 2-3 grazing's.

We will be featuring Pillar more next autumn as seed supply builds up. Until then, should you wish to try some this coming Spring or you would like more information on the trial results or Pillar please contact us.

David Percival(Specialty Seeds), Callum Davidson and John Pedofsky inspecting Cropmarks forage rape trial 20-06-2014.

Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds with any brassica questions

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Its Fodder beet time!


I mentioned in last month's SeedData newsletter that generally the Fodder beet crops I have looked at lately have been the best crops I've ever seen.

I put this down to the great conditions Winter feed crops have experienced this Autumn. In saying that it is also a testimony to the fact that farmers and their advisors are getting better at growing fodder beet. For many growers this season will be their third growing season.

It's my belief that when a farmer grows what is a new to him crop, it can take three years before they get a real grasp on what needs to be done to achieve success. I have watched fodder beet in the South Island go from an unknown crop to many to be what it is now a very valuable, cheap source of high quality winter dry matter.

Many of the main players in fodder beet are now looking closely at getting North Island farmers involved in growing fodder beet. I think that as, fodder beet is a temperature related plant its performance in the North Island will be better than what we achieve in the South, and they are impressive.

This time of year farmers need to think about selecting a suitable paddock for next year's crops as well as start to think about talking their supplier about their seed supply for this coming season.


Download Link: Download our Fodder beet growing guide for tips on paddock selection and a growing guide.
Website Link: For more information on fodderbeet cultivars check out the fodder beet website page.
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds with any fodder beet questions.

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New fodder beet cultivars for the 2014/2015 season


To date this season we are going to see four new fodder beet varieties released onto the New Zealand market - Lactimo, Bangor, Tintinel, Enermax.


Lactimo Fodder beet

Cropmark Seeds are going to release their new fodder beet "Lactimo" this Spring. Lactimo is a mono-germ hybrid fodder beet originating from Europe.

Cropmark Seeds have trialled it throughout the South Island over the last 3 years and it has impressed with its even establishment and high dry matter yields. Lactimo is a medium dry matter (14-17%) variety with very good disease and bolting resistance. Its yellow - orange tankard bulb sits 45-50% above the ground which makes it suitable for grazing sheep, cattle and deer or mechanical lifting.

Lactimo is available in boxes of 50,000 seeds with high quality coating, recommended sowing rate of 80,000-90,000 seeds per ha. Supply this first season is limited.

Cows grazing Lactimo Fodder beet - Methven, Canterbury.

Bangor, Tintinel and Enermax Fodder beet

DLF Seeds will be releasing three new fodder beet varieties this year, as well as continuing with three existing varieties from the previous year. The three new varieties are Bangor, Tintinel and Enermax. The three existing varieties are Kyros, Troya (both medium dry matter types) and Feldherr (a lower dry matter type).

All three of these new varieties are some of the latest varieties to emerge from DLF Seeds' fodder beet breeding programme in Europe and have been extensively tested here in New Zealand over the past 2 years.

Both Bangor and Tintinel are high yielding medium dry matter bulb types (15 - 18%) that are suitable for grazing and are highly utilised by all stock classes. These varieties are comparable to the well-known variety Kyros, and have been introduced to satisfy the demand for high yielding medium dry matter type beet seed.

Enermax is a high dry matter type fodder beet (18-21%) that has been specifically bred for lifting and feeding to animals. This will replace the variety Magnum. Enermax has been shown to give a yield advantage over Magnum in New Zealand trials over the last 2 years.

*Compared to the average of all commercially available grazing type fodder beet types. Results from 3 trial sites in the South Island 2013-14

Website Link: For more information on fodderbeet cultivars check out the fodder beet website page.
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds with any fodder beet 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