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Issue 73 / Autumn / April 2016
Hi [firstname]
Welcome to the April 2016 SeedData newsletter. I trust this newsletter finds you well.
For many it has been a mild start to the Autumn. Although it is still dry in many places, a lot of places have recorded really big single rain events.
In this months SeedData edition we will talk about weed incursions in New Zealand, we will re-visit an interesting smartphone app and talk about our Facebook page.
Please browse these topics below:
Weed incursions
Specialty Seeds is always quite busy at this time of the year with what we consider our 'normal business activity', but this year we have been dealing with the MPI on the recent Velvetleaf weed incursion that occurred in some lines of imported fodder beet seed.
Specialty Seeds on the whole has been very lucky (due to good luck) to escape most of the issues other companies have experienced with the velvet leaf incursion.
I can only sympathise with these companies at the extra and unwanted work load it has created, however my real sympathy goes out to the farmers to who have had this serious weed introduced onto their farms.
In the last two to three years there have been two incursions of unwanted weeds introduced onto farms. These unwanted weeds have been Velvetleaf, of course, and Black Grass.
I thought the Black Grass issue was under control however recently it has been discovered in some seed purity and germination tests suggesting to me that it is still a serious ongoing issue.
It has been interesting for Specialty Seeds to be involved with an incursion discovery but for me it raises some very serious questions that farmers (end users) and our industry need to get answers for.
I am not suggesting we need to have a 'witch hunt' but if we all do not sit down together around a table and learn from these incursions then, perhaps that would be the biggest crime of it all.
For more information on any of the items above please see the links below for more information or to contact us.
Information Link: Full information on Velvetleaf.
Information Link: More information on Black grass.
Information Link: Check out the MPI website alerts for more information.
Downloads Link: Download the Velvetleaf Poster for more information.
Newsletter Link: View last months newsletter article that features more on the Velvetleaf issue
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds if you have any questions.
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Smartphone app - Feed evaluation made easy
Way back in March 2014, I showed our clients what was a brand new New Zealand developed app called 'Grazing Calculator'. I believe this app is still a very useful tool for farmers.
Most of our clients will very soon be doing their dry matter assessments on their winter green feed crops and this app is ideal for that!
It also makes short work of doing pasture yield assessments.
Recently I have found it really simple and useful to use when doing some of my fodder beet yield assessments. Then sitting down with clients to work out the transition period for them.
It even tells you how far to move the electric fence!
The app is available for both iPhone and Android smartphone users and is priced extremely well (Android app: $2.59 and iPhone app $2.99) considering to the information you can get from it.
Download Link: iPhone (iOS) users download.
Download Link: Android users download.
Website Link: Click here for the Grazing calculator app website.
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds if you have any questions.
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Facebook and Specialty Seeds
Specialty Seeds have from the word go always tried keep our clients up with the latest information in the pastoral seed industry.
Over the years we have used many different forums to achieve this and this newsletter is one of the most effective media we use.
It is hard to believe it started way back on February 2010. Where does the time go!
At the start of this year we put our toe in the water with Facebook and quickly realised its potential.
The main thing I enjoy about Facebook is it is easy to publish information to our 'followers' and we do so at least once a week.
The posts we put up are a reflection on what we are doing or interesting things we have seen during that particular week and so far people seem to be enjoying them.
They tend to be more personal, not quite as formal as the newsletter and interestingly find people from outside the farming community seem to like the posts as well.
Great to think that many urban people are still very interested in rural New Zealand activities still, particularly when some people would like us to think otherwise.
We would love for you to follow us on Facebook so click here check us out but don't forget to 'Like us' so we appear on your news feed.
Facebook Link: Check out the Specialty Seeds Facebook page.
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds if you have any comments, suggestions or questions.
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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
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