Cut the Crop!

  In this week’s episode of Cut the Crop, Alison Stewart talks to three growers in Southland, Mid Canterbury and Manawatu about how spring and crop market prospects are looking. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travelling the world as NZ’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, Methven arable farmer Hamish Marr says that what we consider “normal” for agriculture here is different elsewhere. In this episode of Cut the Crop, he tells Anna Heslop that everywhere he goes, the main talking points are climate change and emissions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2024 Arable Awards’ Positive Environmental Impact winner, Waikato maize grower Daniel Finlayson, has fully integrated environmental considerations into his farming system. In this episode of Cut the Crop, he tells Anna Heslop that profits and yields are up, and greenhouse gas emissions down, through actions like switching to strip till and trying alternative nitrogen sources. See omnystudio.co...

FAR has developed a fungicide decision tree which poses a set of questions for growers to help them to decide whether a T0 fungicide is needed in wheat. In this episode of Cut the Crop, FAR senior cereals researcher Jo Drummond tells Alison Stewart that rather than adopting a “just-in-case” approach, growers need to retain chemistry for when they really need it. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

UK plant pathologist Dr Aoife O’Driscoll visited in August as part of the ‘A Lighter Touch: A new approach to crop protection’ events. In this episode of Cut the Crop, she tells Anna Heslop that increasing disease pressure and rising agchem costs in the UK have led to a trend towards more resistant wheat cultivars, use of wheat cultivar blends and wheat grazing. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

Catch crops are sown as soon as possible after grazing of winter forage crops to mop up nitrogen during the coolest and wettest months. In this episode of Cut the Crop, Plant and Food Research team leader Brendon Malcolm tells Anna Heslop that catch crops not only reduce nitrate leaching but also provide production benefits. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waikato dairy farmer and maize grower Alan Henderson is part of a Growers Leading Change group trying out alternative nitrogen products in maize crops. In this episode of Cut the Crop, he tells Alison Stewart that as well as trying dairy effluent and chicken manure, he is using legumes faba beans and hairy vetch as cover crops to fix nitrogen in the soil. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

Mixing multiple wheat cultivars and sowing them together in the same paddock is being trialled by FAR and tried by some growers with promising results. In this episode of Cut the Crop, FAR cereals researcher Andrei Costan tells Alison Stewart that mixes have the potential to reduce disease pressure and spread, as well as increasing yield stability. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

An all-women Canterbury Growers Leading Change group aims to support its members to gain a better understanding of their arable business. In this episode of Cut the Crop, group member Erica Callaghan tells Anna Heslop that it is also valuable for making social connections. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growers wanting to reduce agrichemical inputs in their crops but not sure where to start have the opportunity to learn more at a series of ‘A Lighter Touch’ events in August. In this episode of Cut the Crop, FAR senior cereals researcher Jo Drummond says there will be something for everyone to adopt on-farm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FAR senior environment researcher Abie Horrocks last month travelled to Groundswell, a popular UK regenerative agriculture festival. In this episode of Cut the Crop, she tells Alison Stewart that the event was huge, with hundreds of speakers catering for every interest, both rural and urban. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To assist growers to make the most of new tools and technology, FAR has developed a wide-ranging research strategy. In this episode of Cut the Crop, FAR technology manager Chris Smith tells Anna Heslop that this includes everything from independently evaluating opportunities with digital   tools to a back to basics look at maximising farm machinery. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

A Mid Canterbury Growers Leading Change group is looking at ways to reduce applications of synthetic nitrogen to maintain profit and contribute to environmental compliance. In this episode of Cut the Crop, group member Darryl Oldham says that nitrogen alternatives including biological products and legumes are promising. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FAR is holding five maize winter workshops in the North Island in July. To encourage growers to head along, FAR senior environment researcher Dirk Wallace tells Anna Heslop in this episode of Cut the Crop about research which shows that legumes can reduce and even eliminate the need to apply nitrogen to a maize crop. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Visiting United States Professor of Agricultural Communications Dwayne Cartmell says that US farmers, like their Kiwi counterparts, often feel that the general public doesn’t understand what they do. In this episode of Cut the Crop, he tells Anna Heslop that farmers need to tell their stories without getting bogged down in science, or getting defensive. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...