The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Darfield partnership named top wheatgrowers

By David Hill
Otago Daily Times·
28 Jun, 2019 02:49 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Syd (left) and Earl Worsfold with United Wheat Growers board member Guy Wigley and Ruralco seed sales manager Craig Rodgers. Photo / UWG

Syd (left) and Earl Worsfold with United Wheat Growers board member Guy Wigley and Ruralco seed sales manager Craig Rodgers. Photo / UWG

A Darfield father and son have claimed this year's top wheat growers' award.

Syd and Earl Worsfold were named 2019 supreme award winners in the United Wheat Growers wheat competition awards recently. The pair also won the feed wheat section.

Earl Worsfold farms in partnership with his parents Syd and Trish Worsfold on 400ha, including 260ha which Earl leased from a neighbour.

They typically sow about 200ha a year in wheat, with Earl's focus being more on feed grains.

He said the win was a welcome second award for the family, after Syd was named Federated Farmers arable farmer of the year last year, marking a 30-year commitment to the sector.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

''This year things seemed to line up well for us in what was quite a difficult start,'' Earl Worsfold said.

''The crop got away well, but then we lost a lot of sunlight over December, which set things back a bit.

''We picked it up and the winning crop came off our dryland crop. This season, I think dry land farmers would have done as well as irrigated.''

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Worsfolds entered a 13 tonnes a hectare winning crop, using the Graham hybrid, one Earl Worsfold said had more than proven its worth.

''We just look at the FAR (Foundation for Arable Research) trial results when selecting and this was one that definitely stood out.

''It's been pretty exceptional for us. The seed weighed well and every truck that collected the grain was very full.''

Competition judge Tim Dale said the growing season had in some ways been the opposite of the year before, with significant wet, overcast periods leading up to early January.

Discover more

Still working on egg farm at 96

23 Jun 10:00 PM

Dog trial victory 'not about winning the money'

23 Jun 10:30 PM

'I gave one woman 50kg' - heritage apples a hit

25 Jun 04:00 AM

Strong prices at Otago and Southland bull sales

26 Jun 03:15 AM

''The long spell of overcast conditions was not good for ripening and also bought significant disease challenge to crops.

''This did tend to reflect in the end result this year, with average wheat yields down about two tonnes a hectare, or about 20 per cent.''

He said many growers would have been disappointed with their final yields and quality, but the challenges were typical for this season.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

Canada agrees to $157m dairy deal after NZ trade dispute

The Country

Worry and speculation as manager of Molesworth Station resigns

Premium
The Country

Stock Takes: The unusual way an NZX-listed company found out its major shareholder was selling up


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Canada agrees to $157m dairy deal after NZ trade dispute
The Country

Canada agrees to $157m dairy deal after NZ trade dispute

Canada will allow NZ dairy access after a lengthy trade dispute.

17 Jul 10:51 PM
Worry and speculation as manager of Molesworth Station resigns
The Country

Worry and speculation as manager of Molesworth Station resigns

17 Jul 09:20 PM
Premium
Premium
Stock Takes: The unusual way an NZX-listed company found out its major shareholder was selling up
The Country

Stock Takes: The unusual way an NZX-listed company found out its major shareholder was selling up

17 Jul 09:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP