Issue 61 / Autumn / March 2015

Hi #subname#

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

This one might be a bit brief, as I am sure you can imagine, it's a case of "all hands to the pump" at the moment.

Canterbury has had a couple of decent rains recently and it certainly has stirred things up.

During the last month I've been looking at a lot of fodder beet crops throughout the South Island. I have seen crops that are already in excess of 20 tonnes dry matter per hectare, to a crop that while looks good, will have nothing in it as apparently Pukekos like fodder beet. This particular crop has great tops but bulbs that look Swiss cheese!

In this month's Seedata I'd like to talk about fodder beet paddock selection and pre plant preparation, and update you on how the "shear for life" event went.


Please browse the topics below:

• Shear for Life - A great fundraising effort!
• Fodder beet update

Shear for Life - A great fundraising effort!


As you will be aware Specialty Seeds helped sponsor the recently held "Shear for Life" fund raiser held in Tarras, Central Otago.

The event was held over the 28th and 29th February and I went down for a look and really must take my hat off to Cole, James and the whole organising committee for their efforts.

It was a great couple of days and was the true essence of a farming community getting together for a great cause.

I was talking to the man from the Prostrate Cancer organisation who let me know that he was really happy with this type of event because as he said "getting the very important prostrate awareness message across in rural areas is more difficult than in town".

Originally the hope was to raise around $24,000 so to get to over $39,000 was truly amazing!

Watching both Cole and James during the last hour of their efforts one could only admire them as you could certainly see the strain shearing for 24 hours had taken on them.

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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Fodder beet update.


As mentioned earlier, over the last three weeks I have driven most of the South Island looking at fodder beet crops.

On the whole the crops are looking really good and some are set up for very high yields.

The dry land crops in Canterbury looked a bit down and out but certainly better than the dryland kale crops! Many of them looked down and out for the count.

I have been impressed with the speed of recovery of the dry land crops after even a relatively small amount of rain.

A couple of observations I made during my tour was that the crops that look really good, are crops where the pre-plant planning and weed control were very good.

With this in mind I've prepared a quick check list for farmers who should start planning now for next years crops.

1. Select a free draining paddock preferably out of run out grass pasture.
2. Think about what chemicals have previously been used on the paddocks going into fodder beet as residual chemicals can be very damaging to fodder beet crops.
3. Get your local fertiliser representative to do a deep probe soil test (150 mm), the single most important requirement is a soil pH of between 6 and 6.2
4. Spray out the paddocks as early as possible ideally during June / July. If required spray again prior to paddock preparation in the early Spring.

Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds for more information on fodderbeet.

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