With autumn not far away now, it is a good time to start thinking about some simple steps you can take to improve the persistence of your lucerne stand.

- Allow at least 50% of the lucerne stems to have an open flower at some point between mid-summer and autumn, to encourage root recharge

- Graze if drought stops plant growth, then allow recovery after rainfall until growth stops

- Long rotation (40+ days) a couple of times between January and the end of May builds up root reserves for spring growth and increased stand persistence

Forage barley is a crop which performs better with multiple grazings. Grazing at red-band height allows the plant to increase tillering and grow a superior yield after recovery from grazing.

Get the double benefit of the early graze(s) plus the later benefit of a higher yielding final forage, or if cutting for balage or hay.

Pictured here is Kiwi Seed’s Omaka forage barley, 5 days after grazing and rolling the paddock.

What has been the result of heavy rains, earthquakes, slips and slides over much of the country?

Contractors have been busy removing dirt and trees from the roads, and after the clear up, seed mixes are hydro-seeded on to banks to re-grass these areas.

The standout plant is the clover, doing a great job restoring the clay surfaces to a growing medium, where other plants can follow.
Kiwi Seed have a range of clovers to suit most situations.

Bruce Clark

Pateke Farms Maize and Sunflower Silage

Bruce and Hamish had a great site visit to Pateke Farms (Koromiko) to check in on their Maize and Sunflower silage crop.

Why would you sow sunflowers with silage maize?

- Improved palatability

- Improved nutrition

- Biodiversity in the field

- Soil structure improvement

- Reduced seed cost

This is an idea first tried in 2017 by Pateke Farms and continued with ever since. Sowing sunflowers one row in four is a simple way to improve your silage chop. Protein, ME and nutritional components in the sunflower seed result in improved feed quality in the resulting silage.

Sunflower seed is cheaper than maize and brings a host of benefits when done right!