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Issue 55 / Spring / September 2014
Hi #subname#
Welcome to the September edition of Specialty Seed's SeedData Newsletter.
It appears that we have all gotten off to an early Spring and during my travels around both the North and South Island recently, I note most places are looking okay for this time of year with feed being a bit on the tight side.
At this time of year we get a lot of enquiry into pasture herb mixes. These are normally made up of plantains and chicory so in this edition it makes sense to have a look at the available cultivars of plantain and chicory. We also look at two new swede varieties and talk about the seed supply situation.
This month we will cover the following topics:
New products - Two new swedes from Agricom
This season sees the release of two new swedes Domain and Triumph. Both will be in short supply this season. Please see the information below:
Domain
Domain is a new generation, dry rot tolerant, yellow-fleshed swede. Domain is an early maturity traditional swede and is very similar in growth habit to Doon Major and Dominion.
Traditional types of swedes such as Domain are not particularly leafy and often produce and maintain lower leaf yields than the more modern higher yielding swedes available today. They also are characterised by lower bulb dry matter percentages - this is often related to softer bulb types. Domain is suitable for sheep, dairy, beef and deer and this type of swede is ideal for younger stock classes.
Domain has shown high tolerance to dry rot, however it has no improved club root tolerance and is not recommended as a second crop swede and should not be sown after any other brassica.
Domain is an early-maturing soft swede which is often preferentially grazed in May and early June. As Domain is a palatable swede, the practice of grazing the leaf with lambs and hogget's in autumn requires careful monitoring as the chipping of bulbs can occur very early in the grazing. Bulb chipping can lead to diseases infecting the damaged bulb prior to the main grazing period.
Domain is available in 1 kg bags as either bare seed, or with Gaucho, Superstrike or Ultrastrike seed treatments.
Triumph
Triumph is a very high-yielding yellow-flesh swede with good dry rot and mildew tolerance. This new generation swede has a uniform bronze/purple skinned bulb and very good leaf holding characteristics.
Triumph is defined by its very high yield potential for a swede and is one of the highest-yielding swedes to come through our breeding programme. Triumph has an intermediate bulb dry matter percentage, higher than Domain.
Triumph has shown high tolerance to dry rot, however it has no significant improvement in club root tolerance and is not recommend as a second crop swede and should not be sown after any other brassica.
Triumph is highly suitable to all farm systems that require high-yielding swede crops. It is suitable for ewes, deer and is particularly suitable for dairy support. Like all brassicas, Triumph requires good establishment management, climatic conditions and fertiliser use to fully express its yield potential.
Triumph is available in 1kg and 25kg bags only as Ultrastrike coated.
Download Link: Download the Domain Swede Agrinote brochure.
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds for more information on Domain or Triumph swede.
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Sow down Pasture Herbs this Spring!
As mentioned at this time of year we get a number of enquiries from clients wishing to put a mixed pasture herb blend in for normally a summer crop.
The two main components for these blends are plantain and chicory mixed with red and white clovers. In both plantain and chicory there are significant differences in the cultivars and we thought it a good time to better explain these to you:
Chicory:
In a mixed pasture blend typical sowing rates are 4-6 kgs per hectare. Available cultivars include:
Chico: Very high quality, high yielding summer forage for all livestock types, Ideal for summer-dry environments. Suitable as a specialist summer forage or as a component of a perennial pasture or forage/brassica mix. Animal safe - no grass staggers and no facial eczema, fast establishing, leafy, upright and persistent (1-3 years) Chico has good winter activity for a chicory.
Choice: Choice was bred in New Zealand by AgResearch Grasslands, the breeders of the original forage chicory, Grasslands Puna. Bred from true perennial chicory parents under grazing evaluations and selected for high dry matter production, improved cool season growth, disease tolerance and recovery after grazing. Choice has performed very well in trials and on-farm exhibiting good growth and has more production and persistence than other winter-active chicory cultivars.
Grouse: Grouse chicory was bred at Ceres Research Centre to produce an upright, uniformly leaved chicory, with a longer seasonal growth pattern from early spring to late autumn and winter. Grouse is best suited for use in 18 month production systems based around regrowth brassicas, where the aim is to grow as much dry matter as possible and the autumn, winter and early-spring growth of Grouse is of most use.
Puna 11:
Grasslands Puna II chicory is a New Zealand bred broad-leaved, semi-erect perennial forage herb bred from true perennial chicory parents. Puna II chicory has high nutritional quality, producing high yields from spring to late autumn. Extensive animal data has been generated on chicory (much of it on Puna II chicory's predecessor Grasslands Puna chicory). Grazing evaluations and trials have confirmed Grasslands Puna II chicory's high dry matter production, improved regrowth after grazing and improved persistence.
Punter:
Punter is a high yielding, perennial forage chicory selected for improved establishment vigour and outstanding summer productivity and quality. Punter is suitable for all stock types with very strong summer and autumn growth plus cool season production.
501:
501 is an annual chicory that provides more feed faster. Fast establishing and high yielding - (it can provide an extra grazing). Very high feed value with ME of 12 (compared to pasture that may only be 10 in mid-summer). Simple management and is great for animal health. Breaks pest cycle - sets up paddocks free of pests such as black beetle and clover root weevil.
Download the chicory brochures by clicking on the links above
Plantain:
In a mixed pasture blend typical rates of plantain range from 2-5 kgs per hectare. Available cultivars include:
Boston:
SF Boston thrives and persists in a wide range of soil types and climatic zones. Boston has a smaller seed than other plantains on the market, allowing for a lower sowing rate. Remains vegetative longer into the summer months due its late flowering trait. Erect in type with broad leaves and dark green in color with strong autumn/winter/spring activity with excellent palatability making it suitable for all stock types.
Hercules:
Hercules Plantain has a heading 28 days later than Tonic Plantain. However, observations made during the selection and production process showed that Hercules often 'ran to head' approximately 6 weeks later than Tonic Plantain and flowered approximately 8 weeks later than Tonic. Its late heading/flowering date means that Hercules Plantain will maintain feed quality for significantly longer periods compared to other varieties, remaining vegetative and leafy even through the reproductive phase. This attribute increases animal productivity throughout this growth period.
Tonic:
Tonic can add value in terms of both dry matter and quality to any farming system. Tonic contributes invaluable dry matter production, typically at times of the year when ryegrass and other species, e.g. white clover, are not performing. It has a deep, coarse, root system, which gives it a degree of drought tolerance and the ability to respond quickly after summer-dry conditions. Including Tonic in a pasture mix will also improve summer pasture quality due to Tonic's high quality leaf production and mineral content. Pure stands of Tonic can be used during lambing to increase lamb and ewe weights at weaning. The key to this use is the unique trait of high winter and early-spring growth compared to other plantains.
Download the plantain brochures by clicking on the links above
Website Link: Check out our Mixed pasture blends under our Recommended Seed mixes website page.
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds if you have any questions on plaintain or chicory for your specific farming situation.
Seed supply update
This season we are lucky that most seeds we sell are in a good supply situation, however there are a few exceptions to this and as I say to people seed isn't something you can mix up in a drum and produce more of it…once it's gone, it's gone until new harvest.
Most of these shortages we have this season are caused by two main factors: a poor 2014 harvest season and increased demand, normally a combination of both factors.
- Fodder beet seed is in very short supply this season with all supply companies reporting a huge demand following a poor European harvest
- HT Bulb turnips is on allocation for this season. Extra demand from the North Island is the main cause of this
- Lucerne seed is very short following poor harvests in New Zealand and Australia and once again increased demand. Luckily there are several cultivars to select from at this stage
- Ryecorn, Triticale and Barley has pretty much sold out until harvest 2015, there are still stocks of several barley's at this stage
Contact Link: Contact Specialty Seeds with any seed supply questions.
 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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