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

Having just completed a whistle stop tour of the top half of the South Island, up the West Coast, through Takaka, Marlborough, Kaikoura and North Canterbury, I don't think I have seen the country side looking so good across the board.

Production on most farms is up on last year and everyone had a smile on their faces. Long may it continue.

In this edition we will preview:

• Legacy Lawn Seed blend
• Kale Weed and Insect Control
• Lees Valley Field Day
• Specialty Seeds Product Range.

Legacy Lawn Seed blend.


Now is a great time of year to renovate your existing lawn or put a new lawn in!

For most areas in New Zealand our Legacy Lawn seed is the perfect lawn blend as it produces an extremely attractive looking lawn, that is quick to establish, and easy to care for.

Our Legacy Lawn seed blend is available throughout New Zealand, so if you are looking to sow down a new nice new lawn this could be your best option. Specialty Seed's Turf and Lawn seed range isnt just limited to one product though.

No matter your lawn situation, we have the best advice for your lawn requirements. We can access any commercially available product, and can custom mix to your requirements so if you have a new project on the go please don't hesitate to contact us.


Download Link: Download our Legacy Lawn Seed blend brochure.
Website Link: Click here to check out our Turf and Lawn website page.
Contact Link: For any questions or enquiries please don't hesitate to contact us.

Back to top



Kale Insect and Weed Control.


At this time of the year we get asked a lot of questions on Weed and Insect control in Kale crops. Over the last few years there have been some newly released products into the market and below is a brief summary of them.

As always we have only made suggestions here. We recommend that before you use any of the products below you should consult with your local chemical supplier.

Weed Control:
Weed control in Kale is relatively straight forward and you have two options which are either Pre Emerge or Post Emerge chemicals.

• Pre Emerge
  Pre Emerge chemicals typically used are the proven Treflan or the newer Frontier. Frontier is often used in conjunction with Treflan and can be either tank mixed with Treflan and both encorporated pre drilling or once Treflan has been encorporated and the paddock sown Frontier can be sprayed on prior to emergence.
  
  For more information on Pre Emerge chemicals please follow these links:
  Download Link: Treflan label
  Download Link: Frontier label
  
  
• Post Emerge
  Post Emerge chemicals typically used are either Dicamba based ones which like Treflan have proven themselves to be a cheap and effective weed control in Kale, or the newer T Max from Dow Agrosciences. T Max is a very effective weed control product in Kale crops and is gentle on the crop, however before using I would suggest that you think carefully about what you may be using the paddock for, for at least the next two years, as there are residual factors that need to be taken into account.
  
  For more information on Post Emerge chemicals please follow these links:
  Download Link: Buttress label
  Download Link: T Max label
  
  

Insect control

Insect control in Kale crops are where the real issues start. The main problems in established Kale crops are: Aphids, White Butterfly and the Diamondback Moth. The most difficult one to control of these three is the DiamondBack Moth (Plutella xylostella).

Forage brassica's in pasture situations are susceptible to many of the same insects that attack our vegetable brassica crops in our backyard gardens which creates bit of a problem. The concern from the vegetable industry is that if their growers and the forage brassica growers don't adopt a sensible approach to insect control there is a real potential for insects to become resistant to commonly used insecticides. This has already been seen in many areas worldwide including Australia, Japan, the USA, and many other countries.

Should you wish to read more on this issue please download this article below:

Download Link: Pesticide Resistance: Prevention and Management Strategies PDF

• Suggested Kale Insectides
  
  We have included product brochure links below to two commonly used insecticides in forage brassica crops. I like these chemicals because they are very effective on a wide range of insect pests and they use relatively low water rates which is also very important from a logistics point of view. When deciding on what to use please read the section on these labels that relates to insect resistance of each product or for more technical advise please consult with your local chemical supplier.
  
  Download Link: Attack brochure
  Download Link: Karate Zeon label

Contact Link: For information on what the best option for your individual property is please feel free to contact us.

Back to top




Lees Valley Field Day.


Way back in 2005 the Lees Valley Farming Group (LVFG) was formed to discuss agronomic issues related to the intensification of Lees Valley and similar farm types throughout the South Island. Topics for study included the following: pasture species, sowing rate and combinations, nitrogen on pastures, Aluminium toxicity and soil pH, fertilisers on brassica and annual clover establishment.

Funded by the MAF Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) and run by Lincoln University the LFVG had funding to maintain the 10 hectare site until June 2009, with a well attended field day held on the 8th April 2009. An application was made to SFF to carry the study on for a further three years to look at the long term effects of pasture persistence etc. At this stage Specialty Seeds, PGG Wrightsons Seeds and Mt Pember also jumped on the funding band wagon to help ensure the project would keep running.

Specialty Seeds was extremely keen to help keep this project up and running for another three years for a few reasons. The first reason being because it would make for one of the longest running trial sites we have known of and the second was because we felt that in this environment, the results needed to be measured for a longer duration than the normal three years that most trials only run for.

The final field day was held recently on site on the 1st of November and was also well attended. Subjects discussed on the day included direct drilling results, grass persistence, grass response to nitrogen, perennial and annual clovers, soil pH / aluminium and lucerne and deer.

Should you wish to obtain a copy of the final conclusions from this trial then please feel free to contact us.

Contact Link: For more information on the Lees Valley Field Day please contact us.

Back to top




Specialty Seeds Product Range.


While Specialty Seeds can supply you with any commercially available seed product, we do have a small range of products and mixes that we have a special interest in. Over the next few newsletters we want to introduce them to you and we will show you where they fit into the pastoral scene.

Enrich Persian Clover
Enrich Persian Clover is a highly nutritious, soft seeded annual clover, and can be used in many situations. These different situations include in mixes with italian and annual ryegrasses, summer forage crops (it is commonly blended with chicory giving stock a more balanced diet), cereal silage crops or in pasture seed mixes.

Enrich is a highly productive clover (please click here for trial information) and like all Persian clovers has excellent tolerance to wet conditions, paddocks prone to water logging and mild soil salinity. Enrich has an advantage over other Persian clovers as it has a late flowering trait which means it retains its leaf quality longer into the spring when it is most required.

Keep an eye out as next Autumn we will be releasing our Graze n Hay range of seed mixes, as they will be Devour (tetraploid annual ryegrass) / Enrich and Kano (diploid italian ryegrass) / Enrich mixes.


Download Link: Please click here to download Enrich Persian Clover trial data.
Website Link: Please click here to go to the Enrich Persian Clover website page.
Contact Link: For more information on Enrich Persian Clover please contact us.

Back to top





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