Crop a world record

Maxine and Eric Watson are surrounded by the highest-yielding wheat paddocks in the world.

Ashburton farmers Eric and Maxine Watson have entered the Guinness World Records after producing the world's highest-yielding crop of wheat.

The couple produced a staggering 16.791 tonnes per hectare, beating the previous record of 16.519t held for two years by a UK farmer. On average, irrigated wheat yields in New Zealand are around 12t/ha.

The crop was planted in mid-April 2016 and harvested mid-February this year.

Mr Watson says it's a big relief to have achieved the record, especially after coming close in previous years.

"We're absolutely delighted to have set a new record - I feel a bit overcome in a way, it's quite an achievement.

"It's a very good feeling after all these years of achieving high yields to get the world record. After all, it's what we set out to do. Possibly one of the things that will come out of this is recognition of the New Zealand arable industry. It's very small but there are some good farmers out there and it's good to have the record back in New Zealand again."

Mr Watson puts his success down to his partnership with Bayer, for its agronomy advice and range of crop protection herbicides and fungicides, and Yara, for its nutrition input.
"I couldn't have done it without them - they made me realise I could do it. I suppose I needed a shove in the right direction," Mr Watson says. "We've been achieving high yields for several years but have never bothered about the world record. The record definitely became harder to achieve after the 16.5 tonne barrier was broken in the UK harvest of 2015."

Bayer NZ crop science country manager Scott Hanson says the record is not only an important achievement for the Watsons, but for New Zealand as a whole.

"For me, the record demonstrates the skill set that we have in New Zealand in the arable industry. The New Zealand grain and seed industry is an important part of the global seed market. Farmers like Eric and Maxine demonstrate what New Zealand can do at a global level truly promotes our industry to the world."

"In particular, the Canterbury region is demonstrating that it not only has the best arable growing conditions in the world, but also the best and most knowledgeable arable farmers in the world."

Yara Fertilizers NZ arable specialist Paul Johnston was involved with the overall crop nutrition advice for solid fertiliser inputs of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur and magnesium.

"Regular herbage testing was also a very important factor as this guided the timely inputs of foliar trace elements." As for the future, Eric believes he can do even better.

"It is an exceptional yield, but I could always do better and that's my aim."