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Placing catchment communities in the Ashburton District at the centre of decisions and direction on biodiversity, water quality and the environment is now possible thanks to the Mid Canterbury Catchment Collective (MCCC).

For the next three months we will look at the following: fodder crops, pre-emergence sprays on autumn sown crops, grass grub control in pasture, and use of gibberellic acid to increase pasture growth.

Look back and plan ahead to get the most from your autumn sown cereal crop.

Autumn is on its way following a favourable summer, especially for cropping farmers who have been able to complete much of their harvest with limited weather delays. There have been some extreme temperatures with some regular rainfall, particularly in late February, seen in time to provide relief for dryland farmers.

Replacing the nutrients removed by hay or silage keeps soil fertile and productive.

For the next three months we are looking at the final sprays for finishing off our cereal and grass seed crops, getting our silos cleaned up before harvest, continuing our post emergence sprays on fodder beet, pre and post emergence sprays on forage brassicas and weed control in new pasture.

Spring has once again delivered a variety of weather conditions. After a prolonged wet period through winter and early spring, the latter part delivered some warmer weather drying things out to the extent that irrigation was underway earlier than it had been over the last couple of years.

It’s been 30 years since Barenbrug Agriseeds became the first private company in the southern hemisphere to start researching and developing novel ryegrass endophytes.

One of the many things that New Zealand arable farmers do very, very well, is adapting to change. New crops, new markets, new rules and regulations…been there, done that, got it sorted. For this reason, it’s easy for them to respond to concerns about the impacts of climate change with an “it’ll be alright on the night” mentality.

Nitrogen side-dressings encourage a good, strong canopy on summer crops and improve yields.