Cover crops can improve the environmental sustainability of intensive cropping systems. AgResearch’s Trevor James explains how cover crops can be used for weed management in a maize system.

Nitrogen (N) management in maize will become increasingly important over the next five years. FAR’s Dirk Wallace discusses how refining the application rate can increase nitrogen use efficiency in maize crops.

FAR is investigating the impact of multi-hybrid planting on maize forage quality, grain quality and profitability. FAR’s David Densley explains how precision agriculture can improve maize productivity and quality. 

Cultivation practices can influence important soil properties, which in turn can affect the short- and long-term profitability and sustainability of arable cropping systems. FAR’s Abie Horrocks explains how reducing tillage can build resilience in arable systems. 

New Zealand-based agritech start-up BioLumic is developing ‘recipes’ of energy-efficient ultraviolet light for treatment of young plants and seeds. BioLumic’s Ana Pontaroli discusses whether ultraviolet seed treatments could enhance maize productivity.

Yield mapping or ground-truthed aerial imagery are good starting points to access the overall variability on your farm. FAR’s Chris Smith explains how soil sensor technology can be utilised as a management tool.

Four growers (Grant Duff, Matt McEvedy, Blair Drysdale & Brian Leadley) from different arable regions of the South Island talk to Alison Stewart about how the harvest is progressing on their farms and how their thoughts are turning to planting options for next season.

United States maize expert Professor Fred Below of the University of Illinois has been visiting New Zealand as a guest of FAR. In this session of Cut the Crop, he tells Alison Stewart that while planting populations keep going up, the height of some maize hybrids is coming down.

Short-term cover crops are increasingly being considered as an option for paddocks that previously may have been fallowed between crops.

In this presentation from CROPS 2022, FAR’s Abie Horrocks says trial results are promising in terms of improvements in soil quality.

FAR’s Premier Maize Event is on February 14 at its Northern Crop Research Site near Hamilton. In this episode of Cut the Crop, FAR’s David Densley tells Anna Heslop that as well as the chance to hear visiting United States maize research expert Professor Fred Below, the latest on everything from cover crops and precision ag to a planting green demonstration will be covered.