Maize and Cropping 2019

23

www.age.co.nz Thursday, September 5, 2019

& 2019 Cropping

Maize

A big thank you from the Wairarapa Arable Group

Only one more year to go and Wairarapa residents will again be able to grow peas - providing no more pea weevils are found in the region.

Richard Kershaw of the Wairarapa Arable Group wants to thank all home gardeners, farmers and commercial growers for their help so far in eradicating the pea weevil by not growing peas themselves.

The pea weevil was first discovered in Wairarapa around this time three years ago, prompting the Ministry of Primary Industries to ban the growing of peas while it went about eradicating any pea weevils in the region.

In the 2016/2017 year it found 1735 pea weevils, 15 in 2017/2018, and in 2018/2019 found none at all.

If no pea weevils are found in the 2019/2020 year, then in the following year commercial farmers and home gardeners alike will be allowed to grow peas again.

“It was lucky that it was Wairarapa where pea weevils were discovered,” Richard says. “The community here is very supportive, much more than they would have been in other places.”

Assuming, no pea weevils are found in the next year, it will take a few years for Continued on page 24

24

Thursday, September 5, 2019 Wairarapa Times-Age

Continued from page 23

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Wairarapa’s around 60 commercial pea growers to get going again, Richard predicts.

“There will be a transition period with probably around 200 hectares grown, compared to the 1200 hectares previously.”

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Traditionally, Wairarapa’s pea crop, along with those in the South Island have been grown to be used as seed to supply growers in the rest of New Zealand and Australia.

One of the issues is that the long-standing Wairarapa seed processing plant of Masterton Vegetable Seed Ltd, closed last December due to low volumes of seeds growing in the region and an increase in operating costs.

This means there is now nowhere local for peas to be dressed, Richard says.

In future they will need to be processed in the South Island despite the extra cost in freight.

Along with the loss of the dressing service, the closing of the Masterton business also had the loss of people with expertise. “They have gone elsewhere and are hard to replace.”

Starting a new plant would

Members of the Wairarapa Arable Discussion Group with Simon Osborne.

“Going forward, we need to be fl exible and not locked into one crop. We will still grow peas but are trying out other crops like maize grain, red clover and hemp.” cost millions of dollars and while some companies have looked into the idea, no one has indicated they are keen, Richard says.

He expects most growers will go back to peas anyway.

“They are great for the soil, and great for crop rotation, and financially rewarding.

Peas are very positive for the environment. They fix nitrogen, don’t need fertiliser, insecticide or herbicides.”

Over the past three years, growers have tried out some alternatives such as pak choi, sprouting broccoli and choy sum for seed cultivation but none of these have proved ideal.

But the search for alternatives hasn’t been a completely fruitless exercise, Richard says.

“What the ban did was to get us looking at other crops.

Going forward, we need to

be flexible and not locked into one crop. We will still grow peas but are trying out other crops like maize grain, red clover and hemp. The strength of Wairarapa is its diversity. It can be used for lots of crops.”

Reflecting this new attitude, the Wairarapa Arable Group invited Leeston, Canterbury cropping farmer Simon Osborne to Wairarapa last week to speak on the subject of regenerative farming which is characterised by no tillage, co-planting of species that support each other, leaving crop residue on the ground to feed the soil, and minimal chemical intervention.

Pea crop.

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www.age.co.nz Thursday, September 5, 2019

Maize crop establishment for dairy farmers Soil test for N before applying post-emergence N fertiliser to determine requirements.

There are two soil tests regularly used for maize:

Many dairy farmers use maize crop as part of their pasture renewal programme.

However not all paddocks are equally suited for maize production.

• Basic soil test (0-15cm) for pH, Olsen P, K, Ca, Mg etc

Steep paddocks are not only difficult for cultivation and harvest but tend not to yield well.

• Deep N test (0-60cm) for mineral N.

Low lying wet paddocks often lead to cultivation delays and often don’t yield well unless drought conditions prevail.

A paddock that is wet under pasture acts as if 10% wetter when the structural strength of the pasture is removed by cultivation.

Wet paddocks risk loss of soil structure under cultivation which leads to lower yields.

Long-term effluent paddocks have high N and K levels and are ideal for growing a deep-rooting crop of maize often without using bagged fertiliser.

Long-term dairy pastures have high fertility levels which means N fertiliser inputs for maize crops can be reduced without impacting yield.

To grow high-yielding maize

on farm for the least cost, consider the factors which make the contractors’ jobs speedy and efficient and reduce harvest cost, e.g. paddock location, access, entrance ways, track conditions, culvert strength, overhead wires.

is generally sufficient for germination, except on very cloddy soils. Light rolling after sowing may help seed-soil contact, seal in moisture, and reduce risk of wind erosion.

Soil preparation

Maize requires substantial nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) both of which are present in dairy soils.

Maize seed is normally sown around 5cm deep. An uneven soil surface (undulations, ruts etc.) makes it difficult for the planter to sow at a uniform depth resulting in variable emergence.

Maize does not need a very fine seedbed. It is a large seed and seed-to-soil contact

Maize nutrient requirements

On cropping farms, N is the nutrient most likely to limit maize yields and the largest fertiliser input.

These inputs are generally unnecessary on dairy paddocks coming out of

long-term pastures. Up to 300kg N/ha is released from soil organic matter when high fertility dairy pastures are cultivated.

Maize is unlikely to respond to K fertiliser unless soil K test levels are very low.

Replacement K fertiliser can be applied after harvest to avoid any luxury uptake by the maize crop (luxury uptake is the K uptake in excess of what the plant needs.

K can be absorbed by plants in amounts higher than what is needed for optimum yield, this can lead to higher than normal concentrations of K in the plant tissue).

Dairy effluent can be used as a nutrient source for maize provided the crop requires the nutrients and good effluent practices are followed.

Weeds Paddocks out of longterm pasture often have a broad-leaf seed bank while paddocks previously runout pastures often have grass weeds, e.g. summer grasses.

Weeds can cause a significant yield loss, and moisture-activated preemergence herbicides generally work well however in some situations further post-emergence applications are required.

Source: DairyNZ www.dairynz.co.nz

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Thursday, September 5, 2019 Wairarapa Times-Age

& Cropping

Maize

2019

Wairarapa part of the plan to make m It may come as a surprise to find out that New Zealand does not produce enough milling wheat for all the flour it requires for bread.

Today, New Zealanders consume approximately 400,000 tonnes of milling flour every year in the form of bread and other products, but our farmers only produce 100,000 tonnes.

So where does the rest of it come from? - Australia.

But this was not always the case.

Up until deregulation in the late 1980s and early 1990s, New Zealand produced all of its own milling wheat for flour, although the quality was not always as high as that of Australia, admits Arable Food Industry Council (AFIC) Chairman Ivan Lawrie.

These days, though, he says New Zealand milling wheat is as good as Australia’s or anywhere else in the world.

AFIC, which represents New Zealand’s cereal, grain and seed growers, traders, processors and researchers, has set itself the goal of New Zealand being self-sufficient

“This will require an extra 30,000 hectares of land devoted to growing, with a potential 20,000 hectares existing in the South Island, and 10,000 in the lower North Island, with the East Coast, including Wairarapa, providing a good environment.” in milling wheat by 2025.

So what is the problem with New Zealand simply importing milling wheat?

The Wairarapa has good land for growing milling wheat.

Ivan says one is consumer habits. “Consumers today may prefer to eat products that are traceable and of local origin.”

The second is that “when you rely on imports of a basic

food staple, you are very vulnerable to fluctuations overseas.”

climate change this is likely to be a common occurrence, he predicts.

Australia’s wheat production has been hit by a series of severe droughts over the past few years, and with

“Australia has had some really bad harvests over the last few years. That leads to less volumes being available

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www.age.co.nz Thursday, September 5, 2019

more bread out of New Zealand grown wheat Island, predominantly in Canterbury, producing around 80,000 tonnes of milling wheat per year.

certain that the consumer demand is there.

To be completely selfsufficient, New Zealand will need to grow another 250,000 tonnes of milling wheat per annum by 2025.

This will require an extra 30,000 hectares of land devoted to growing, with a potential 20,000 hectares existing in the South Island, and 10,000 in the lower North Island, with the East Coast, including Wairarapa, providing a good environment.

But there are several of hurdles that need to be cleared before the goal of self-sustainability is achieved.

One is logistics.

and higher prices. New Zealand is less vulnerable to droughts and also much of the potential growing land has access to irrigation.”

Presently, nearly all milling wheat is grown in the South

“We don’t have the infrastructure. You need strong rail and road access to ports, facilities at ports for loading and unloading, and ships purposed to carry the product.

“The closer milling wheat is grown to its destination, the better. Freight can be very

Arable Food Industry Council Chairman Ivan Lawrie.

expensive in New Zealand, especially if it has to cross Cook Strait on a ferry to the North Island where threequarters of New Zealanders live. You don’t want all your profits gobbled up by freight.”

To this end, AFIC has formed a working group to investigate transport and storage options. It is also investigating options for storage consolidation and for loading on to ships, rail and road transport.

A second hurdle is being

“We need a clear understanding of consumer needs and trends. The Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) has contracted the Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit (AERU) to conduct an independent survey on consumer views on purchasing bread made with local ingredients. This is taking place right now.”

A third obstacle is convincing enough farmers to convert at least some of their farm to growing milling wheat.

Wairarapa has undoubtedly got good land to grow milling wheat, says Ivan.

“Trials have been done in the region by the Foundation for Arable Research. There is no reason to believe it can’t grow quality wheat.”

But the opportunity cost of wheat versus sheep & beef or dairy will inevitably be measured by farmers.

On a dollar versus dollar comparison, milling wheat may not always be the most

profitable, Ivan says, but when a systems approach is applied to farming, he believes growing wheat on at least some of the land makes sense.

“You have to take other considerations into account such as the environmental benefits. For instance, you can use wheat to mop up nutrients from the livestock.”

Finally, farmers will be looking for some sort of certainty of demand from millers.

To this end, AFIC has formed a working group to develop the framework necessary for long-term supply arrangements.

Millers will need to communicate with growers early about the next season’s contracts, Ivan says.

“This year the mills have released their contracts to growers 45 days earlier than in 2018, with an increase volume contracted, this is a step in the right direction.

“And mills have been visiting regional growers with United Wheat Growers New Zealand representatives.”

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Thursday, September 5, 2019 Wairarapa Times-Age

Colton Bros Ltd new commercial grain drier and silos A new grain complex featuring the only commercial grain drier in Wairarapa is now up and running at Martinborough.

The complex was built over three years by agricultural contracting business Colton Bros Ltd which started operation in February.

The double flow grain drier, from Alvan Blanch, means local farmers no longer have to transport their grain to Palmerston North or further afield to have it dried, says director and shareholder Robert Gawith.

The complex can dry a varied number of combinable crops such as rye grass seed, pea seeds as well as feed grains such as oats, barley and maize – basically anything that can be harvested by a combine harvester.

This service is critical if it looks like a crop will be lost due to wet weather Robert says.

“Traditionally any grain

needing to be dried had to go out of the area, only to return to local users. This way it can stay in Wairarapa with far fewer road miles clocked up.”

The commercial grain drier is the latest development for Colton Bros Ltd which was started in the early-1960s

by Warren Colton and his brothers Frank and Doug Colton.

The business was originally located on Lake Ferry Road and moved to Georges Road, a few kilometres west of Martinborough in 2010.

Over the years the business has seen a major increase in activity around dairy farming, also in pasture renewal, grass and maize silage and now barley and maize grain.

But it is the grain supplement supply side to the business which has undergone the most change in recent years.

Robert Gawith says even now, Warren Colton’s values continue to influence the way

the company operates.

Warren played a significant role in growing the company and helped the industry too.

The business has stuck to its grass roots though, which are cultivation of grain, silage, hay making and harvesting.

Robert started with the company in 1995 and says it has grown significantly over the last two decades.

“It’s always been about bringing good people into the business.”

“The double flow grain drier is part of that growth and keeping up with increasing demand for local maize,” he says.

“Back here in Wairarapa we still struggle with storage. The drier is necessary for harvest and the silos for storing maize.”

“The whole reason behind the drier has been to extend the season which means we can then retain staff for a longer period.”

Extending their harvesting season allows for more stable working conditions – employment contracts usually last between six to ten months and there can be anywhere from eight to eighteen staff members depending on the time of year.

The new drier is all automatic and less labour intensive than the last. Over the course of an hour it can dry between 10 to 15 tonnes of grain; the evaporated water blowing out as steam.

Maize has gone through phases in popularity and is now one of the main grains, Robert says.

“It’s gone from about 100 hectares in the 1980s to over 500 hectares now. It started to pick up in 2010 after the surplus of maize grown was not required for silage.

When we were hit with pea weevil in 2016, we started looking at other options.”

Sharpes Stock Feeds were keen to source local grain and help give growers another option after the ban on growing peas.

Most of the maize comes from within 20 kilometres of the site outside of Martinborough and around South Wairarapa.

While most of the maize grain goes to Sharpes Stock Feeds for supplementary feed a large portion goes to dairy farms with in-shed feed systems that feeds the cows while they are being milked.

The crops are planted and harvested by the company, but it also offers it’s drying and processing services to other producers in the region.

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29

www.age.co.nz Thursday, September 5, 2019

New Grain Drier introduces Hayden Kuyf and REL Group to Wairarapa It tailors its products to individual customer requirements, is constantly introducing new innovations, and provides a high level of support.

The business responsible for Wairarapa’s first commercial grain drier is REL Group.

REL Group built the new grain complex, which features a double flow grain drier from Alvan Blanch, for Martinborough agricultural contracting business Colton Bros Ltd. The Rakaia-based business is looking forward to working with more Wairarapa farmers and rural businesses in future, and has added a Palmerston North office for this purpose.

John and Janette Kuyf formed Rakaia Engineering Ltd in 1987 to fill a void in the New Zealand market for steel sheet fabricated silos.

Since then the company has been developing and importing a comprehensive range of agricultural and farm equipment and today has over 40 team members involved in production, sales, service, installation and delivery.

John and Janette’s son Hayden is continuing the Kuyf family involvement in the company.

Hayden now spends two weeks of every month in Palmerston North and is keen to meet Wairarapa farmers and agricultural contractors to talk about their needs.

Some of its products include dairy sheds, wintering barns, silos, grain augers, grain elevators, centrifugal fans, aeration systems, meal feeding systems, above ground storage systems, effluent tanks, rotary platforms and water storage tanks.

REL Group is committed to designing and engineering hard wearing, accurate systems that provide real value for farming operations.

Hayden spent his school holidays installing and delivering REL Group equipment.

He completed a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Otago, Majoring in Finance and Management.

The winter of 2016 was spent in Europe with REL Group’s drying partner Alvan Blanc, gaining knowledge to share with the New Zealand market.

Upon his return, Hayden began a full-time position in the sales team, with a focus on grain handling and storage.

Hayden regularly attends international industry exhibitions and visits the company’s North American suppliers, gaining valuable product knowledge and creating new relationships.

The grain complex for Colton Bros is one of the bigger types of projects REL Group can provide, Hayden points out.

“We can put single silos up to full systems. We only supply proven agricultural equipment from reputable companies and our equipment manufacturing team is known for its attention to detail and with a focus on quality.”

The Alvan Blanch drier manufactured for Colton Bros Ltd, is the only type of its kind available in New Zealand, Hayden says.

“Whereas most driers rely on gravity, the Alvan Blanch double flow grain drier provides a continuous flow, using a chain and slate system.

Its low heat means the drier can be used for both grains for feed, and seeds intended for germination, offering the potential to be used for multiple crops.”

One of the outstanding features of the Martinborough grain complex was the amount of forethought the team at Colton Bros put into the project, Hayden says.

“They future-proofed the site, allowing for future expansion which is fantastic.”

Hayden welcomes inquiries and will be at the Wairarapa A&P Show on November 1st, 2nd and 3rd if you want to meet him in person.

Or just phone 027 711 3719 or Email Hayden@relgroup. co.nz for an appointment.

30

Thursday, September 5, 2019 Wairarapa Times-Age

& Cropping

Maize

2019

The pea and its part in the rise of flexitarianism New Zealand has some big decisions to make when it comes to peas in the near future.

Growing peas offers excellent prospects for farmers in Wairarapa and other parts of New Zealand that are suitable for growing the crop - assuming the pea weevil is eradicated, says an expert in the subject.

Africa, New Zealand and more recently South America.

Pea crops have the ability to be converted into a wide variety of “plantbased foods”, he says, the target market of which are the growing millions of “flexitarians” around the world.

So what is a flexitarian?

Adrian Russell is Managing Director and Principal Plant Breeder at Plant Research (NZ) Ltd, based at Lincoln in Canterbury.

Basically, anyone who chooses to consume less meat for whatever reason, such as environmental concern, animal welfare, or food traceability.

Adrian joined Plant Research as one of its founding directors, after working as a plant breeder at DSIR for 24 years.

Peas have traditionally been processed into a variety of foods such as canned, extruded, fried and split pea products.

During his career, Adrian has released over 40 varieties of peas, cereals and other species in New Zealand and globally.

But increasingly, a process known as “fractionation” is being used to break down peas into three separate components (or fractions) of fibre, starch and protein.

Since its inception in 2000, Plant Research has released successful field pea varieties in North America, Australia,

This is then being turned into a much more varied range of food products such as

plant based meat, cheese, milk and other beverage analogues, making peas perfect for the growing flexitarian market which is already mainstream in Australia, North America and Europe.

Global pea protein sales are predicted to quadruple by 2025.

But there are several obstacles holding New Zealand back from making the most of this growing market, Adrian says.

One is a lack of the machinery to carry out fractionation. It’s partly there, Adrian says.

Plant Research Ltd pea breeding trials located researchers Madelaine Voice and Briar Kinney

“Peas have been split and processed into flour for many years in New Zealand which is only one step away from fractionation. Technology also exists within the dairy industry for extracting protein.

Presently, no one in New Zealand appears willing to make this investment, because they are uncertain of consumer demand, Adrian says.

However, millions need to be invested to make this plant capable of carrying out fractionation.

“It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation! You want to invest in machinery but need to have a market, and you

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www.age.co.nz Thursday, September 5, 2019

team at Plant Research have been creating some of the varieties of peas for producing similar products in North America, along with other arable crop species that are now being grown overseas, the product of which are imported into New Zealand.

Adrian hopes that someone will finally take a leap of faith and make the investment required in local plant to get the industry up and running here.

Once it is, this will create a direct chain from New Zealand growers to plant operators to flexitarian product makers to the local consumer.

in Canterbury. [Right] Plant Research Ltd planting pea breeding nurseries in Canterbury.

have to have the machinery to make the product to get the market going.”

There is already a market in New Zealand for flexitarian foods, Adrian says, and there are local products such as Sunfed Ltd that sells a nonchicken chicken.

product, but has to import the pea protein from overseas which adds to the product’s carbon footprint, and almost defeats the purpose of an environmentally-friendly plant-based product.”

“Sharma Lee has a great

Ironically, Adrian and the

The fractionation process has opened up another dilemma involving gene-editing which is presently not allowed in New Zealand.

Gene-editing allows the creation of plant varieties that are impossible using conventional breeding systems.

“Pea crops have the ability to be converted into a wide variety of plant-based foods, the target market of which are the growing millions of “flexitarians” around the world.”

systems, fractionation is still providing new opportunities, Adrian says.

These varieties can potentially have specific qualities that allow them to be turned into types of plant based foods through fractionation, such as improved or novel flavours, water and oil binding capacity, foam expansion, foam stability, whip-ability, gelation, emulsion stability and emulsion ability along with better disease resistance.

But New Zealand will have to decide which direction it wants to go in.

What this means in practice is that a variety can be developed that, for instance, is perfect for making nonmeat “meat.”

At the moment, using conventional breeding

But gene-edited peas will be able to be turned into varieties of new food products that conventional breeding systems will never be able to achieve.

Adrian sees a market for both. Gene-edited varieties will be the norm overseas and by far the biggest part of the market.

But he also sees a comparatively small, but still huge, niche market for GEfree varieties.

“Do we want one or the other? Maybe we can’t have both. This is a discussion that needs to be had in New Zealand. We will need to make a choice and get on with it.”

With so many polarised opinions on the subject of genetic engineering, Adrian recognises that getting any sort of forum happening will be like herding cats.

“The government needs to stimulate the discussion, and provide leadership through a forum to talk about it.”

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Thursday, September 5, 2019 Wairarapa Times-Age

Corson Maize hybrids continue to perform well Corson Maize is focused on developing its portfolio of maize hybrids through working closely with an extensive network of international breeders. Last season saw the inclusion of the Pacific Seeds range of hybrids into the Corson Maize stable of products offered to growers.

National Sales Manager Graeme Austin is pleased that the longest serving maize seed company in New Zealand is continuing to expand its hybrid offering to local growers. “The inclusion of Pacific Seeds into the Corson Maize portfolio ensures NZ growers will continue to have access to high performing hybrids from a range of leading international genetic sources and breeding programmes.

The Corson Maize team is delighted that the high performance of its hybrids is continuing to be reflected in the multi-year trial data results from the

independently run national Maize Performance Trial programme (MPT). The fifth year of results will soon be published including data from multiple sites over multiple years, to better demonstrate a hybrid’s ability to perform under varying seasonal conditions.

The trial results will soon be available to be viewed online at the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) website www.far.org.nz – look for the maize hybrid evaluation booklets link.

Looking forward to the 2019 season, the team at Corson Maize has several impressive hybrids cropping up including Afinity (97 CRM), Plenitude (107 CRM) and Z71-F1 (111 CRM).

Afinity is a dual purpose hybrid that delivers a robust agronomic package. It is characterised by a uniform, well-filled cob with a deep kernel which produces high yields of medium textured grain. Afinity is particularly

well suited to the southern North Island as a fullmaturity grain hybrid and as an early to mid-maturity option for the northern North Island including the East Coast.

Plenitude is a dual purpose hybrid capable of producing high yields of both grain and silage.

The large leaves on this tall plant catch the eye and the mediumsoft textured kernels suit both silage and grain users. It has very good stalk and root strength and with a CRM of 107, it is ideally placed as a longer hybrid in the upper North Island and East Coast.

Z71-F1 is a full maturity TENDERLEAFY® silage hybrid developed in New

Zealand by Corson Maize.

It is a very large plant with a high grain yield and a sound agronomic package.

Z71-F1 offers very good early growth developing into a tall, bulky plant with large ears as well as very good staygreen which contributes to a wide harvest window.

Z71-F1 is suitable for warmer northern regions where early planting is possible. It is ideally suited to contract silage production, targeting high yields and quality silage.

& Cropping

Maize

2019

Maize continues to be a significant feed and forage crop throughout NZ, and it is at the forefront of environmental and economic sustainability, so we expect strong interest in our portfolio this spring.

For more detail phone Corson Maize on 0800 4 MAIZE (62493), talk to your local Sales Agronomist or visit www.corsonmaize.co.nz

[Above] A Corson maize crop during silage harvest this past season.

Tested, tried and trusted.

Maize hybrids for silage and grain.

Corson Maize sources hybrids from more maize breeding companies than any other New Zealand seed company and tests them in New Zealand conditions before taking them to market. Our portfolio of hybrids has been tried on-farm over many seasons so that you know they can be trusted in your farming operation.

PWS 2003

Change is a great thing, so if you haven’t already experienced Corson Maize hybrids, why not make a change?

Contact a Corson Maize Sales Agronomist on 0800 4 MAIZE (62493) or your rural retailer.

Visit corsonmaize.co.nz for more information.

HYBRIDS INCLUDED WIDE RANGE OF GENETICS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

MULTI-YEAR INDEPENDENT MAIZE PERFORMANCE TRIAL (MPT) SUCCESS