Seeds day focus on summer cropping and forage varieties

ANNUAL EVENT: The PGG Wrightson Seeds "seeds in action" fielday at the company's Matawhero site at the end of January was very successful and will be repeated next year. Picture supplied

PGG Wrightson Seeds held the first of their 2017 Seeds in Action field days at the end of January at their newest demonstration site opposite the Matawhero sale yards.

Company spokeswoman Lucy Evans said they invest over $10 million a into research and development, with world leading forage and endophyte programmes.

“Seeds in Action sites are the final stage of the commercialisation process and they are key in showing how products perform in the local environment.”

The day’s focus was on hill country summer cropping and farm systems and to showcase latest forage varieties.

Key speakers in Gisborne included technical nutritionist and agronomist Wayne Nichol, sales agronomist Paul Greenbank and forage agronomist Holly Phillips. They discussed products and their fit within farm systems.

“This led to interesting discussions and insights surrounding hill country cropping and feeding,” Lucy Evans said. “Nichol, Greenbank and Phillips also gave a good overview of current products (chicory, leafy turnips and forage rapes).”

Nichol stressed the importance of feeding appropriately saying that “wastage of forage crops is a necessary evil”.

“Making sure animals are allowed enough feed will ensure appropriate weight gains are achieved. This means accurately weighing the crop to ensure the correct allocation of feed is achieved.”

Ms Evans said the event attracted a great turnout of farmers and agricultural professionals all interested to learn more.

“Richard Benton-Rule from Dow Agrosciences said the day was a really informative one and that the PGG Wrightson Seeds site was an excellent demonstration of the company’s cultivars. One particular point of interest for farmers was Pallaton Raphno®.

“It is an exciting new forage brassica which was released in 2016. It is a flexible forage that can be used on farm and can match many lamb fattening and finishing farm systems; it has the option of being a quick feed or a later season feed.”

The Seeds in Action day will be repeated next year.