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17 / 03 / 2011
Hi #subname#
Welcome to the March edition of Specialty Seed's SeedData Newsletter.
Specialty Seed's are based in Christchurch so we cannot let the events of the 22nd of February pass without comment.
The Specialty Seed's family are all fit and well and feeling extremely lucky that no one was hurt or directly affected by the earthquake and that we have been able to carry on with business as per usual.
I personally would like to send out a very big thank you to our Specialty Seed's team, as February, March and April are very busy months for us, and to have all the boys turn up the day after the shake,
to get orders out while other business were closed, was very gratifying to see.
We also would like to thank many of our customers who have offered us accommodation, should we have decided to get out of Christchurch.
At this time of the year, we are hyper busy and so we have not been able to take any of these offers up, as we are committed and staying on, to getting all orders out as quickly as we can, for all of our clients, as always.
Christchurch has changed and it will never be the place it was, however Specialty Seed's are still as strong as ever and are here and able to cater for all your seed needs.
In this edition we will preview:
Office Closure - The Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day.
Please be aware that tommorow, the Friday 18th of March, Canterbury will be commemorating those lost in the February 22nd earthquake and so the
Specialty Seed's office will be closed for the day.
We will back back into full gear again on Monday the 21st of March first thing.
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See you at the Field Days.
The South Island Agricultural Fields Days are all go at Lincoln again this year. Running from Wednesday the 30th of March until Friday the 1st of April and we would love to see you there.
You will find us in the covered sites, so please drop in have a cup of tea and a chat with us. You will also get a chance to enter our competition to win some very nice 100% NZ Merino Jackets.
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Seed Supply Update.
To say this Autumn season has started with a "hiss and a roar" would be an understatement. Good Autumn rains in the North Island combined with the slightly later Canterbury ryegrass harvest season has put real pressure on all seed mixing plants. Popular AR37 ryegrass cultivars have only just arrived in store.
It has also put some of the seed lines we expected to have plenty of this season, under pressure as well. The following are now either very short or sold out:
- Trojan NEA2 perennial ryegrass
- Alto AR37 perennial ryegrass
- Expo AR1 & AR37 perennial ryegrass
- Commando AR37 perennial ryegrass
- One50 AR1 perennial ryegrass
We do however have plenty of excellent alternatives to these cultivars so for more information please feel free to contact us for any help you may require.
Website Link: Click here to go to our Seed Supply Update website page.
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Seed Treatment Options.
Seed Treatments used for Grass Seeds
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There is no doubt in the benefits of using seed treated with an insect protection product when trying to establish your new pasture, this is particularly true when using the direct drilling method of establishment.
It would be fair to say that over the last couple of years there has been a wide range of new seed treatment products hit the market place.
It's hard to keep up with them but to help you we have produced a quick guide on all the ones we currently know of.
I believe you should look at the insects that are found in your area and look at the seed treatment most suitable to control them.
Common Pests:
Throughout New Zealand the most commonly found insect pest would have to be Argentine Stem Weevil (ASW).
Since its introduction around the 1990's it has become established throughout New Zealand seven million hectares of improved pastures. It is estimated to cost individual farmers thousands of dollars of damage annually.
Although they are very difficult to see in the paddock, a lot of this damage occurs at establishment and is therefore a very important pasture pest to consider at pasture establishment time.
Grass Grub and Black Beetle are also major pasture pests and in some cases occur together, however in other regions you may have one or the other.
As you can see most of them control diseases at establishment, and the seed treatments don not add to the seed's weight at all.
Withholding Period:
One of the extremely important but often forgotten issues with seed treatments is their withholding period.
You will notice in the pop up Seed Treatments table to the right, that some are seed coatings and some are seed treatments. Seed coatings are not commonly used in grasses now adays but are very useful when applying seed aerially as they help to ensure an even spread.
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We hope this issue has been of some value to you. If you have a comment on this newsletter or the rest of the content in this newsletter please feel free to call us on our Freephone: 0800 727 8873 or send us an email at: mail@specseed.co.nz
Kind Regards
Stephen Finch & David Percival
Specialty Seeds
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