Soil quality changes over the rotation are important indicators of how management decisions affect soil quality. In this episode of Cut the Crop, Anna Heslop talks to Abie Horrocks about how to carry out your own DIY soil quality test, and what the results may mean.

How to do a mini-VSA assessment   

FAR researcher Jo Drummond talks to Anna Heslop about how to get the most bang for your nitrogen buck in the coming season.

FAR researcher David Densely talks to Anna Heslop about the next 12 months of maize research and extension. There’s a lot of work going into on-farm trials looking at establishment techniques and cover-crops, and, linked to it, a series of field days. David also announces the date of FAR’s 2022 Maize Conference

In the second of a series of Cut the Crop podcasts with Dr Harry Clark, Director of New Zealand’s Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, we discuss how New Zealand farmers and growers are being asked to respond to the climate crisis.

New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre

On this episode Alison Stewart checks in with growers Hew Dalrymple in Bulls, Andrew Darling in Timaru and Craig Whiteside in Clinton to see what the 2020-21 season has handed them. Handy hint…it’s a pretty mixed bag! 

How real is the threat of climate change to New Zealand? In the first of a series of Cut the Crop podcasts with Dr Harry Clark, Director of New Zealand’s Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, we discuss how different levels of warming could impact on how and where we live and farm, and why reducing greenhouse gas emissions is so important.

For more information, visit Ag Matters.

Average effort equals average yields. In this episode of Cut the Crop, Anna Heslop talks to FAR’s senior maize researcher, David Densley, about moving Beyond the First Principles of maize production to increase yield and profit.

Catch crops like forage oats provide are a great way to suck up excess nitrogen after winter grazing, protecting your farm from leaching losses. In this episode, Anna Heslop talks to Peter Carey from Lincoln Agritech, about why it’s important to get catch crops in as soon as grazing is completed. He also touches on the use of A Spader drill in Southland.

Applications for FAR’s 2022-2023 Graduate Programme are open until mid-August. In this episode, we talk to current grad, Fiona Anderson, about how the programme works, and what she’s been up to in her first six months. Spoiler alert…she’s loving it!

FAR Graduate Programme Application form

Bird feeding on crops is estimated to cost the New Zealand arable industry tens of millions of dollars every year, and don’t let’s even get started on starling nests and tractors! In this episode, FAR’s Owen Gibson outlines the pros and cons of bird management techniques from shotguns to lasers.