FAR board chair Steven Bierema talks to Alison Stewart about the challenges and opportunities facing the arable industry and FAR's goals for the coming year.

Celebrated senior researcher Phil Rolston reflects on his long career and says that despite retiring from FAR he enjoys the industry too much to walk away entirely. In this episode of Cut the Crop he tells Anna Heslop about how New Zealand’s natural advantages and collaborative industry approach are the envy of the world’s other seed producing regions.

A Methven-based Arable Growth Group are experimenting with biological products as a way to become more environmentally and financially sustainable. Anna Heslop talks to farmer Steve Sim about how the group are trialing the use of biologicals and liquid injectables in autumn-sown cereals on their farms.

Rapidly rising international consumer demand for plant-based protein provides arable growers with a potential new market opportunity. In this episode of Cut the Crop Alison Stewart talks to Ivan Lawrie of FAR about a new report looking at the feasibility of developing a pea and fava bean protein extraction plant in New Zealand.

Australian integrated pest management expert Paul Horne has just spent a week in New Zealand. In this episode of Cut the Crop Alison Stewart and Paul define IPM and discuss how it can work in New Zealand arable systems.

What do you do when you’re worried about the influence of climate variability on disease and grain quality in your region? A group of Hawkes Bay cereal growers set up an Arable Growth Group to address their concerns. Anna Heslop talks to group leader Simon White about what they are trying to achieve.

Alison Stewart and Ivan Lawrie from FAR discuss the ongoing biosecurity response to fall armyworm, the likelihood of it establishing in New Zealand and the plan for monitoring its potential spread in the coming year.

Rocketing prices and environmental responsibility are two key factors leading arable growers to think carefully about nitrogen inputs. In this episode of Cut the Crop, Anna Heslop talks to Growers Leading Change facilitator Donna Lill who is looking for growers to join a national project trying out some of the new and alternative N options on the market on-farm.

 Find out more about the alternative N project here www.far.org.nz/articles/1673/reducing-synthetic-n-use-with-alternative-n-sources

In this episode of Cut the Crop, Alison Stewart talks to Fiona Burnett, from Scotland’s Rural College about Ramularia. They cover current chemical control options and possible future solutions for this “complex beast” which has a nasty back record of breaking fungicides.

Grass weeds are a big headache for many grain and seed growers. In this episode of Cut the Crop, Alison Stewart talks to Hugh Wigley, farmer leader of a Growers Leading Change group that has declared war on grassweeds about their on-farm weed management trials and results.