Cut the Crop!

Irrigation NZ principal technical advisor Stephen McNally has closely followed the development of the two new laws replacing the 35-year-old Resource Management Act. In this episode of Cut the Crop, he says that under the new law, food and fibre production is considered in balance and equal in priority to the environment.

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A Canterbury guide, “Selecting native plants that attract beneficial insects”, has been developed to help farmers, growers and landowners establish native plantings that support pollination, natural pest control and resilient farming systems. In this episode of Cut the Crop, Abie Horrocks of FAR and Brad Howlett of BSI say arable crops particularly benefit. Find the guide here: https://www.bioeconomyscience.co.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/139225/plants-for-beneficial-insects_canterbury.pdf

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With fertiliser prices at high levels, some arable farmers are being encouraged by sales reps to try out biological alternatives such as seaweed extracts. In this episode of Cut the Crop, Ballance Agri-Nutrients science strategy manager Warwick Catto says a lack of replicated NZ data on these products means growers need to try them out for themselves.

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The maize planting season is rapidly approaching and with a strong El Nino weather pattern forecast for this season, what actions can growers take to maintain yields despite the livelihood of hot, dry conditions? In this episode of Cut the Crop, FAR’s senior maize researcher Rene van Tilburg provides some advice.

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2026 Arable Farmer of the Year John McCaw specialises in ryegrass and cocksfoot seed production as well as owning a seed dressing business at Methven. As a herbage seed industry leader he has been at the forefront of making growers and seed merchants aware of the full costs of growing grass crops and the impacts of a lack of profitability.

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Danish arable growers have few ag-chem active ingredients available, so have no option but to adopt integrated weed management, says visiting Danish weed expert Mette Sonderskov who led a series of FAR weed workshops. In this episode of Cut the Crop, she says that weed management requires a long-term approach.

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Taylor McGill, a masters student from Oklahoma, has been working with the FAR communications team for her international experience. In this episode of Cut the Crop, she says that coming from a notoriously dry US state makes it hard to comprehend that some places need drainage tiles for excess water.

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Two Canadian spraying experts Tom Wolf and Jason Deveau have just completed two weeks of FAR spraying workshops across NZ. In this episode of Cut the Crop, they reflect on how spray set-ups and coffee are different in NZ.

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FAR is running a series of weed workshops looking at all the tools available for weed control so growers don’t have to just rely on herbicides. In this episode of Cut the Crop, Kyle Baxter of Ecorobotix details a high-tech option, available in NZ, which can identify and spray weeds from about 2mm in size.

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A new solar farm at Lincoln University aims to show how productive land can be optimised to grow high-value crops while generating commercial-scale solar energy. In this episode of Cut the Crop, Lincoln lecturer in arable crop production Pieter-Willem Hendriks says that microclimate changes under the panels will be researched while growing arable crops, blueberries, Chardonnay grapes and even kumara.

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