Hort focus
The
latest on practices, people and products for a growing industry
Farmlands Horticulture continues to go from strength to strength
Horticulture within Farmlands Co-operative continues to expand at a rapid pace. Since I took the helm 4 years ago, we have doubled the size of the team and driven a greater level of specialisation in the business. The team now consists of 38 Technical Advisors covering all horticultural regions. They are a passionate bunch who are experienced and well-trained in their specialist areas.
The mandate of the Farmlands Horticulture team is clear – provide our clients with the best advice to increase their orchard gate returns. This does not mean the team pushing products onto their clients, nor does it mean jamming spray sheds full of chemical. As clients come on-board with the Farmlands philosophy, I often hear them saying “why did I not do this years ago?” One answer as to why it takes clients some time to come across, is because of the relationship they have with their rep. The grower will often wait for the rep to change before they talk to us. The challenge I want to put to growers in this predicament is – how much is that relationship costing you? Too often we see relationships where our competitors are taking advantage of the client, be it through excessive chemical use, or through exorbitant margins. We have seen growers using chemicals that have known resistance but are still being pushed by the reps. Again I reiterate, how much is that relationship costing you?
If you haven’t talked to a Technical Advisor about how they can add value to your business then chances are you are missing out on a great opportunity. The Technical Advisors are specialists in all things Horticulture and can advise on spray programmes to meet export market requirements, IPM, fertiliser, organic and biological production – just to name a few. We are a highly motivated team with access to all chemistries and exclusive access to industry leading products. Come and talk to us, a conversation will cost you nothing!
Luke Hansen National Horticulture Manager
Hort focus
Pollination of horticultural crops
Understanding pollination is critical to successful crop husbandry. Through understanding the basic principles of the pollination programme, growers will have greater success in maximising yield and quality.
Honey bees are most commonly the key to successful pollination and it is critical that they are provided with the best environment to work in.
Orientation and placement of hives will ensure that the bees get out working at the start of the morning. In windy sites, sheltered placement is critical. In some harder to pollinate crops, it may be advantageous to group the hives together, as this will encourage competitive foraging behaviour.
If neighbouring crops are more attractive to bees, it is highly likely that the bees will forgo your crop for the more attractive neighbouring one. To counter this, it is sometimes necessary to place hives further within the boundaries of your crop.
It goes without saying that to maximise pollination, hives must be well populated, strong and healthy. Hives sourced through a local apiarist should have been through a quality assurance programme, ensuring that they are healthy and fit for purpose. Audited hives will give growers security of quality.
Nutrition, climate and agrichemical applications can influence pollination. Crops that are lacking in nutrients may not produce strong flowers, e.g. in pipfruit, nitrogen and boron are necessary for strong flowering. However, a cautionary approach is advised as excess nutrients can lead to toxicity.
While climatic factors can’t be directly controlled, understanding how they affect pollination allows adjustments to be made to pollination programmes. Longer periods of cooler weather will reduce bee activity and may necessitate changes to the bee pollination programme. This could include using additional hives, the application of foraging aids such as Bee Scent, or even adding another team of workers.
Bumble bees, although traditionally used in indoor cropping operations, can also be used outdoors in conjunction with honey bees.
It is important to note that bumble bees are not a replacement for honey bees in an outdoor crop but can increase the success of pollination. Despite its un-aerodynamic form, the bumble bee is a valuable asset in a pollination plan. One advantage with bumble bees is their ability to forage at significantly lower temperatures than honey bees.
Although applying crop protection products is necessary during pollination, it is important to understand that certain agrichemicals may reduce pollination activity. Some fungicides may have a negative effect on pollen viability and certain types of surfactant may cause physical damage to the bee, resulting in death.
Bee safety is absolutely paramount, so it is critical to ensure that agrichemicals that are toxic to bees are not used. Take note of warnings on agrichemical labels, e.g. spray must not contact plants in flower if they are likely to be visited by bees. For further information about pollination, please contact your Farmlands Technical Advisor.
Gaz Ingram Organic and Biological Manager Farmlands Horticulture
Get better results from glyphosate using WETCIT
We always knew that WETCIT greatly enhanced the performance of glyphosate – but we never knew why or by how much. This past year, the University of Illinois was given the job of answering both these questions. Dr. Dean Riechers and Dr. Anatoli Lygin from the Department of Crop Sciences conducted a series of experiments to investigate the effect of WETCIT on the performance of Roundup® PowerMAX (a leading brand of glyphosate in the US) for the control of fathen. For those that haven’t experienced WETCIT, it is a revolutionary wetting agent and penetrant that outclasses other adjuvants on the market.
A key experiment conducted was to label the glyphosate molecule with a radioisotope, C14 (i.e. make it radioactive) and measure the level of radioactivity in the plant at given time intervals. This allows the researchers to see where the glyphosate has moved to and in what concentrations. The results were impressive to say the least.
• When WETCIT was added to the Roundup PowerMAX the chemical was absorbed into the leaf more than twice as fast than for Roundup PowerMAX alone (3 minutes vs. 7 minutes).
MSO = methylated seed oil
• 15 minutes after application, the WETCIT plus Roundup PowerMAX combination had distributed entirely throughout the leaf and had begun to translocate into the petiole. In comparison, Roundup PowerMAX alone was still yet to distribute throughout the leaf and no translocation had begun.
• 12 hours after application, the WETCIT plus Roundup PowerMAX combination had completely moved through the plant including the roots. Roundup PowerMAX by itself was still localised in the leaf tissues.
The study looked at other wetting agents, including non-ionic surfactants and oils. In all comparisons, the combination of
Roundup PowerMAX with WETCIT showed superior distribution through the plant and in a shorter amount of time. In fact, the combinations with oil showed no benefit than using the Roundup PowerMAX by itself!
| Treatments: Wetting agents added to Roundup PowerMAX
Key
MSO = methylated seed oil
HSMO = high surfactant methylated seed oil
Glyphosate = no wetting agent
NIS = non-ionic surfactant
COC = crop oil concentrate
The key messages from this research are:
1. Despite Roundup PowerMAX having a surfactant already present in the formulation, the performance of this product can be significantly by adding WETCIT.
2. With conclusive evidence showing translocation out of the leaf into surrounding tissues begins 15 minutes after application, growers can have comfort knowing the addition of WETCIT will get the glyphosate molecule into the plant, particularly when inclement weather is forecast.
3. Oils did not enhance the performance of the Roundup PowerMAX in this study.
NB: WETCIT was used at 300ml per 100L of water in this study. The next stage in the research is to look at the speed the six herbicide treatments kill weeds in a field environment.
Article supplied by Oro-Agri.
Hort focus
A soil conditioner containing OROWET technology based on natural orange oil
Transformer – Outstanding new technology
Improves infiltration rate of water into compact and hydrophobic soil up to 6 months after treatment
Farmlands is proud to bring yet another innovative and game changing product to the New Zealand market. Transformer is a soil conditioner that will improve the rate of water infiltration into compact and hydrophobic soils for up to 6 months. Water is absorbed by the soil immediately, rather than running off and it becomes better held for roots to absorb.
Reduces penetration resistance in compacted soil layers – beneficial for root growth
The technology in Transformer is based on orange oils, which bind to the hydrophobic particles in the soil but at the same time attract water molecules. The result is water gets pulled into and through the soil with each irrigation. More importantly, Transformer enables water to be drawn more effectively into the micro-pores, rather than being lost through the profile. At the same time, it allows the macro-pores to do what they are designed to do – hold air, so the roots and soil biology can breathe. As a result, you will see:
Improves horizontal distribution of water in drip irrigation, resulting in more uniform wetting of soil
• Improved drainage on soils that are prone to waterlogging
• Improved oxygen levels in the soil
• Increased availability of nutrients
Improves root growth where limitations such as water logging or compaction is found
• Better soil conditions for root growth and beneficial organisms
• More efficient use of water
A single treatment per season is generally all that is required. The key to success is ensuring it is washed into the root zone during application. Often it is sprayed onto the soil then irrigated in or more commonly, applied in the first irrigation of the season.
Promotes development of Rhizobium nodules on roots of legume crops through improvement of soil conditions
Easily bio-degradable
Cleans irrigation lines
For green keepers that battle with “dry spot” on fairways and greens, this will be a “must have” tool. For growers trying to wet up soils that have a heavy mulching of sawdust, bark or compost, it will similarly become a standard inclusion in the programme. Avocado growers on heavy soils battling Phytophthora now have another tool for improving soil conditions. For cropping farmers, this product will not only enable more efficient water use but also lessen the extremes of water stress the crop endures between irrigations.
For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Advisor or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.
Article supplied by Farmlands Horticulture.
TRANSFORMER MICROJET SPRAY APPLICATION
TRANSFORMER DRIPPER APPLICATION
Phytophthora management in avocados
Phytophthora root rot is the most serious disease faced by avocado growers around the world. The causal agent, Phytophthora cinnamomi, is widespread in soils throughout New Zealand and other avocado growing countries. The pathogen infects and destroys the small feeder roots of the avocado tree, reducing the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients. This results in general decline of the canopy, with leaves becoming yellow, small and sparse and the eventual death of the tree.
Current control strategies
There are a number of cultural practices growers can use on their orchard to minimise the effects of Phytophthora infection. Ensuring that the orchard is well drained is probably the most important factor, as Phytophthora thrives in poorly aerated and water logged soils. This can be achieved through installing subsurface drains, ripping, or the use of products such as gypsum to help improve soil structure. New products such as Transformer from Oro Agri will also aid in improving soil structure, where the aim is to have an oxygen content of greater than 16 percent. Providing adequate nutrition to the trees is also important, as healthy trees are able to better tolerate root rot. However, excessive use of fertilisers should be avoided, particularly those high in ammonia, as they can damage the fine feeder roots near the soil surface.
Healthy tree
Where more intensive control is required, injecting with phosphonate fungicides is the most commonly used control method. Phosphonate (and phosphite) are systemic within plants.
Tree-Doc is the product designed for injection. For young trees, Phosgard can be applied as a foliar spray.
Applications should target the root flush events – either or both the late summer or spring flush events will ensure the phosphonate is taken down into the roots.
How phosphonate works
Phosphorus acid in its raw state is a solid substance. When combined with water, it forms a strong acid called phosphonic acid – both phosphonic acid and phosphorus acid exist in equilibrium in this solution. This solution is generally too acidic to use directly on or in plants, so potassium hydroxide is often added to reduce the acidity of the solution. This results in a solution of mono and di-potassium salts of phosphorus acid, the active ingredient in the phosphorus acid based products commonly used in avocados (e.g. Phosgard™ and Tree-Doc®).
John Lees Field Manager Farmlands Horticulture
Tree infected with Phytophthora
Healthy tree
Injecting an infected tree
Hort focus
Galuku coir products
For 2 years now, Farmlands has been exclusively supplying Galuku brand coir products to its horticultural shareholders throughout New Zealand. Farmlands shareholders have experienced tremendous success using Galuku coir substrate products, with improvements in plant health and production. Coir products are manufactured using the by-product husk and chip from the coconut processing industry. The products are therefore natural, sustainable and have no environmental disposal problems. Galuku has been supplying its coir products around the world for more than 20 years and currently supplies its products throughout Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, China, USA, Canada, Mexico, South Africa and across Europe and the UK.
With their own ISO 9001 accredited factories in Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia, Galuku controls the entire manufacturing process and offers a reliable supply chain, with competitive pricing. Galuku hydroponic products are used in greenhouse vegetable and flower crop production and by other plant producers who are seeking a durable, cost effective substrate. These hydroponic products are sleeved in co-extruded, high density plastic sleeves, with customised UV treatment for the intended crop and production cycle requirements.
The delicate balance between moisture and drainage is an ongoing challenge to the hydroponic industry, as air is required by the roots of all plants for optimum health. To answer these challenges, Galuku has developed a coir substrate that provides the perfect combination of porosity and water retention. Coir’s unique, tube-like structure enables plants that are suspended in a hydroponic solution to remain moist, while allowing air to easily circulate to the roots. Galuku hydroponic products are therefore produced in a variety of grades, designed to tailor the appropriate air/water mix for each crop type.
Hydroponic products currently supplied through Farmlands Horticulture include:
• EasyFil Planter Bags – designed for two plants per bag, e.g. capsicum, cucumbers, eggplant and chillies.
• EasyFil Raspberry Bags – designed for six raspberry canes per bag.
• Big Berry Bag – a larger version of planter bags, designed predominantly for production of blueberries and blackberries under cover.
• Grow Bags – often referred to as “slabs”, these are designed with two to four plant holes, e.g. tomatoes, eggplant and cut flower production and eight holes for strawberry production.
While there are common industry design standards for some products, Galuku regularly custom manufactures for Farmlands shareholders. Drainage, planting and dripper holes are pre-cut during the manufacturing process to meet grower requirements.
Growers that have switched from using sawdust filled planter bags to Galuku Hydroponic products have observed an improvement in root and general plant health. In addition, they have discovered that using Galuku products has significantly reduced the labour cost of setting up houses for planting.
Farmlands also supplies 4.5kg naked coir blocks in varying grades to flower growers and manufacturers of potting media, e.g. for the production of seed raising mixes, potting mixes and hydroponic growing mediums.
For further information on Galuku coir products, please contact your local Farmlands Technical Advisor.
Mark Daniels
Field Manager Farmlands Horticulture
Easier way to control nitrogen when growing sweet corn and potatoes
Nitrogen is the most mobile soil nutrient and the one plants have the strongest response to. It’s also the nutrient the general public comes down on regarding the environmental effects of applied fertiliser. With the drive to both improve farming profits and sustainability, growers need to use nitrogen wisely, to generate greater marketable crop yields for the amount of nutrient applied. This can only be achieved by adopting new technologies and efficient management practices.
For optimum plant growth, adequate nitrogen must be available during the growing cycle to meet the plant’s demands. In a crop of potatoes and sweet corn, the plant’s demand for nitrogen ramps up from 40 days after planting, before dropping away at around 90 days as the crop matures. Smartfert-N is a 44 percent nitrogen controlled release fertiliser, which releases nutrients over the crop duration.
Smartfert-N has a special biopolymer coating, controlling the release of nitrogen over a 90-100 day period. Applying Smartfert-N at the time of sowing potatoes or sweet corn ensures nitrogen is released when the plant needs it the most.
Smartfert-N technology encapsulates the fertiliser prill with a thin biopolymer membrane that allows moisture to be absorbed. The moisture dissolves the fertiliser and the nutrients release through the membrane over time.
Dr Doug Edmeades, an independent soil scientist, has been contracted to advise on the science aspects of Smartfert-N. Under his guidance, AgResearch undertook both laboratory and glasshouse tests to validate Smartfert’s mode of nutrient release. This work was followed up with a number of field trials on pasture – the results of this show significant increases in production can be achieved per kg of nitrogen applied using Smartfert-N over standard urea. This research also confirms Smartfert-N releases nitrogen at a similar rate to the nitrogen demand of potatoes and sweet corn.
A number of grower trials in sweet corn have been conducted in Hawke’s Bay, with all the nitrogen applied at planting. DAP or 12.10.10 was used as the starter fertiliser and with Smartfert-N as the side dress. Smartfert-N was applied at 50 percent less of the normal side dress rate from nitrogen of urea, resulting in up to 12 percent higher yield, with 30 percent less rejects of sweet corn.
A trial on winter planted potatoes with 200kg of nitrogen applied from Smartfert-N, compared with 200kg of nitrogen applied with urea, showed the Smartfert-N treatment produced a 17 percent increase in marketable yield over the urea.
In addition to the increased yield per kg of nitrogen applied, Smartfert-N provides operational efficiencies to farmers, allowing them to apply all nitrogen at planting with the advantage that Smartfert-N can be mixed with other fertilisers and applied at the time of crop planting. Smartfert-N’s control release technology also reduces the environmental effects of applied nitrogen fertilisers, with less nutrient losses from leaching, volatilisation and denitrification compared to traditional nitrogen fertilisers.
Article supplied by Eko360 Limited, suppliers of Smartfert®
Sweet corn growing with Smartfert-N
Growing strong healthy crops
Seasonal weather can severely impact plant growth
Growing crops while faced with adverse winter and spring weather is never easy. This was clearly evidenced in the North Island last spring, with persistent cold conditions leading to poor crop establishment, slow growth, reduced yields and in many cases, crops requiring re-sowing. While New Zealand’s maritime climate typically offers reasonably good growing conditions, rapid changes in temperature, rainfall, wind, hail, frost and other environmental variables are a regular occurrence.
While many costs directly related to re-sowing or extra management may be quite obvious – typically, the larger costs of not having fodder available in the right quantity at the right time, or fruit and vegetable yields and quality being reduced or late to market, are often not closely calculated. There is no doubt that weather plays a major part in the success or otherwise of farming and horticulture operations.
Fortunately, our understanding of the effects of environmental stress is improving all the time. When the human body experiences a change in environment for instance, a complex system is put into action. An example is decreasing temperature – as the body experiences this change, signals occur at gene level, resulting in a number of pathways in the body being activated to reduce this cold stress on the body. We see that at a whole body level, with shivering occurring, blood is brought nearer to the body’s core and so on.
All plants, with the added disadvantage that they can’t move themselves away from environmental stress, also have similar systems. With the mapping of the plant genome relatively recently, we can now monitor and measure environmental and other impacts at a gene level within the plant. We know, for instance, the various genes that play a part in plant response to cold stress and also often what pathways they activate.
Likewise, we can now use various applied products to activate these pathways to prepare the plant for environmental stress, or to encourage rapid recovery from stress. After application of the product, we are able to monitor plant reaction at a gene level then follow this through to measure the response at a wholeplant level. Italian bio-stimulant producer Valagro has focused on producing products such as Megafol to help alleviate these environmental stress factors, encouraging strong plant growth
Squash treated with Megafol plus Plantafol (left of the line) and an alternative foliar regime (right of the line).
despite adverse weather conditions. Care is taken to produce products that have a strong science base, with clear evidence of real plant impacts in commercial growing situations.
Julie Fotheringhame, Farmlands Horticulture Technical Advisor for Manawatu, experienced good results with Megafol in a commercial pumpkin crop last season. “The crop was planted late following the poor spring. The unseasonable dry weather that followed planting had the crop under some pretty serious stress. The decision was made to try to rescue the crop rather than simply plough it in, so we applied two applications of Megafol a week apart. We were impressed with the recovery, so followed later with a third application of Megafol. The result was a successful yield from what had been shaping as a disaster.”
Megafol is a natural product with no pre-harvest interval, allowing use on crops right up to harvest. It can also be applied with foliar NPK products such as Plantafol, for added effect. For further information, talk to your Technical Advisor or the friendly staff at your local Farmlands store.
Article supplied by Valagro.
Henkel New Zealand Limited now sticks to Farmlands
Henkel is a leader in packaging adhesives and is the world’s largest supplier of industrial adhesives. Henkel provides high quality, innovative brands and adhesive technologies to many industries including the packaged food and beverage sector.
Food contact legislation demands that food, including its packaging, must be safe for human consumption. Through its in-house technical, analytical and product development infrastructure, Henkel provides an extensive portfolio of high performance adhesive solutions in conjunction with extensive food safety expertise.
For these reasons, Farmlands has partnered with Henkel to assist in providing shareholders with high quality, functional packaging for their horticultural products.
Henkel and the horticulture industry
Packaging materials used in the New Zealand horticulture industry are generally regarded as good quality. It therefore follows that high quality hot melt adhesives should be used to achieve a high standard of finished packaging.
Until recently, when Henkel introduced their range of metallocene based polyolefin hot melt adhesives, horticultural packing rooms were using EVA based hot melts. Erecting machines and application equipment were consequently required to assist in overcoming the deficiencies of these cheaper hot melt adhesives.
The industry standard had, by default, been to use at least 20 thousandth-inch nozzles on the hot melt application equipment. This allowed compensation for charring, nozzle build-up and minimised nozzle blockages and/or poor adhesive delivery. Downtime was therefore reduced by minimising stoppages. Over time, the hot melt equipment deteriorated and required regular servicing and replacement of parts. High repair and maintenance costs were accepted practice with the use of these old technology adhesives.
However, it is now well proven that the Technomelt Supra range (a new technology hot melt) with its superior flow characteristics offers substantial benefits and savings to the industry. Supra 100 dramatically reduces pack house odours and allows smaller and more efficient hot melt nozzle sizes to be used. sixteen thousandth-inch nozzles running at lower pressures give immediate adhesive volume savings of at
least 40 percent, with at least equal and often improved pack integrity.
The Henkel technical back up and service allow machine set-ups to be optimised through a combination of different nozzle sizes and pressure settings. One major beverage company that changed to the Henkel Supra 100 product achieved total savings of more than $250,000 in just 15 months. Many horticultural pack houses have made significant savings and improved efficiencies from using Henkel Supra 100.
A further advantage of the Technomelt Supra product is that it actually cleans tanks and hoses. After an initial settling in period when inline filters require regular checking, the hot melt unit then becomes virtually maintenance free. Some blocked nozzles may be experienced initially, as the system drags through some of the previous charring. However, this can be minimised by checking the inline filters regularly.
Henkel representatives are available nationwide to audit and optimise adhesive applications and therefore guarantee the best value adhesive solutions. In addition, they can provide actual New Zealand case histories and customer testimonials.
For further information about how your packaging quality and costs can be optimised by using Henkel adhesives, please contact your local Farmlands Horticulture Technical Advisor.
Daniel Hill Farmlands Horticulture Whakatu
Want more information?
Or call one of our Technical Advisors direct:
Northland
Maria Fathollahi 027 754 9492
John Lees 027 612 1562
Jeanette Johnstone 027 563 6367
Helensville
Haley Heathwaite 027 704 9263
Pukekohe
Steven Dass 027 457 2742
Erik Thomas 027 836 5387
Simon Morley-John 027 836 6190
Bay of Plenty
Andrew McIntosh 027 555 4575
Dean Gower 027 495 4661
Mark Loeffen 027 705 6215
Dwayne Farrington 027 660 1120
Katrina Targett 02 7517 5962
Dan McKenney 027 836 1985
John Bird 027 801 2490
Waikato
Brett Turner 027 660 1165
Hawke’s Bay
James Cropper 0274 428 948
Rob Hengst 027 501 4848
Martin Taylor 027 298 8800
Jeff Kevern 027 442 8945
Blake Herbison 027 284 4147
Bridget Evans 027 511 8096
Chris Herries 027 443 3910
Evan Walsh 027 201 3481
Shelley Bath 027 807 8000
Arnie Haydon 027 230 9696
Gareth Ingram 027 511 8097
Manawatu/Wanganui/Horowhenua
Julie Fotheringhame 027 388 8001
Wairarapa
Sam Black 027 227 2052
Gisborne
Joe Lenaghan 027 555 6080
Hamish Harris 027 807 1598
New Plymouth
John Gordon 06 755 1427
Marlborough
Mike Eaton 021 555 010
Johnny McMillan 027 788 9995
Daniel McDonald 027 902 7040
Nelson
Luke Hawthorne 021 526 050
Frazer Clarke 027 200 0025
Pattrick Bissett 027 474 2195
Christchurch
Clayton Cook 027 482 0006
Malcolm Duncan 027 434 1261
Mark Daniels 027 431 1292
Central Otago
Kenny Paulin 027 555 8895
Grant McKay 027 534 8629
Hamish Hay 027 445 1527
Waipara
Martin Murchison 027 593 0059
Organic and Biological Unit
Manager
Gareth Ingram 027 511 8097