North Island cereals and seed management field day booklet

This FAR Focus outlines the key practices required to grow cocksfoot seed crops, covering topics such as crop establishment, nutrient requirements, crop management and harvesting. Topics outside the scope of this booklet include emissions profiles and off-farm considerations such as seed cleaning etc.

Read the booklet for the 2025 autumn round up series here. 

Harvest Snippets provides a harvest season summary. Find all the 2024/2025 season harvest snippets here.

This update outlines the results of five years of trials exploring pre-desiccant options for managing bulky white clover crops, aiming to reduce rapid leaf regrowth following diquat desiccation under wet or high-fertility conditions. Achieving effective desiccation required balancing this process with post-harvest regrowth, as clover seed crops are often used for lamb grazing on New Zealand cropping farms.

Part 2 of the 2024 Cereal Disease Management Strategy provides an overview of the research behind the development of this strategy. It’s the ‘extra for experts’ part, providing in-depth information that will help you to understand how and why to prioritise your fungicide spend.

The AIMI survey of New Zealand cereal growers, as at October 1, 2024 is now available online.

T1 and T2 applications provide the majority of disease control, yield benefits, and economic returns. However, adding a T3 spray often creates the best balance in a fungicide programme. A T3 application is timed to protect the 22% of yield linked to the leaf sheath and ear, but need for it will depend on seasonal disease pressure. This update outlines examples of balanced and targeted fungicide programmes which will aid profitability and reduce pressure on both cultivars and chemistry.

For milling wheat, achieving the required grain protein can be the difference between achieving a premium price or being down graded to the feed price on the open market. This update discusses the impact of applied nitrogen timing and rates on milling wheat yield, protein and profitability.

This is the final DRAFT of the 2024 Cereal Disease Management Strategy. The final version will be uploaded once proof reading has been completed.