Rural Diary

North Island | South Island

Warm, dry weather has been seen around the country this past month, which has lead to some challenges when trying to establish crops. On the topic of managing dry weather, Andrew Gillanders chats through his new irrigation system and how it has impacted his farming practice. If you are thinking of re-grassing, there are a few agronomy articles that might help.

North Island | South Island

It is hard to believe we are already in the second month of 2019. Summer brought some challenges with the weather, pests and diseases. As we move into autumn, we provide articles on foliar nutrition, slug management and creating high quality silage. Don’t forget to start thinking ahead for the next lactation too, turn to page 14 to read more.

North Island | South Island

Summer brings a few challenges, from pest and weed control, to flystrike and facial eczema in your stock. This month, we have articles to help on all these topics. We also took a trip to visit Mayfield based Spray Contractor, Gary Harrison. Gary has seen great results from the use of Minecto Star in brassica crops.

North Island | South Island

November is the last month to nominate your local school, St John or Rural Support Trust as part of the Cash for Communities programme. Visit www.cashforcommunities.co.nz to nominate your cause. This edition of Rural Diary features key topics, from herbicide options to drench checking. Plus, our team takes a trip to South Canterbury and visits Arable Farmer, Sam Grant to discuss fungicide control in wheat. Turn to page 5 to read more.

North Island  |  South Island

With the busiest season on-farm upon us, we have articles on key topics such as cropping, herbicide options and silage quality to help with your decision-making this spring. Turn to page 12 to read an interesting article on the importance of calcium in your herd. Our Cash for Communities programme is back, visit www.cashforcommunities.co.nz for more information and to nominate your cause.

North Island  |  South Island

We take a trip to Taupo to visit Farmer, Georgia Bennett who works closely with her local PGG Wrightson Technical Field Representative, Darryl Jones to manage weed control in plantain. Our Soil Scientist, Jessica Dunbar explains the importance of soil testing to set yourself up for the season ahead. This issue features key articles on crop selection for spring. Also, turn to page 13 to learn about the increase in hand-rearing lambs.

North Island | South Island

With spring around the corner, this month's edition of Rural Diary has more of an agronomy focus with key supplier articles on protecting spring sown crops, and choosing the right crops. We visit North Canterbury Dairy Farmer, Alan Davie-Martin. Alan works closely with his PGG Wrightson Technical Field Representative, David White to achieve optimal pasture production and boost dry matter growth. Also, turn to page 6 to find top tips to reduce disease in your calf shed this season.

North Island  |  South Island

Rural Diary has a new look! As Rural Diary has hit its 65th edition, it was time for an update. You'll still find helpful articles from our Technical Team and key suppliers as well as timely tech tips.

In this month's edition we take a trip to Winton to visit Dairy Farmer, Stephen Pope. With the help of PGG Wrightson Technical Field Representative, David Wheeley, Stephen has been able to meet the nutritional requirements of his herd year-round. Also, turn to page 6 to find out about a new range of milk replacers available exclusively from PGG Wrightson in New Zealand.

North Island  |  South Island

It is hard to believe that we are already in June and this year’s National Fieldays® is around the corner. We have moved to a new site this year on H37-H43. There will be plenty to see and do, including live demonstrations, retail specials and competitions for the kids, so make sure you visit our site.

This edition offers advice for calf rearing from birth through to weaning. Our Nutritionist, Andrea Murphy provides top tips on what to look out for at each stage. Our team visited the Te Awa family in Oxford, North Canterbury, and met with Diana Te Awa who rears both heifer and bull calves. Working closely with her Technical Field Representative, Kaleb Bolton, and local Rangiora store team, Diana uses Calf Milk Replacer (CMR) to maximise her chances of meeting liveweight targets. Also, turn to page 12 to read an interesting article from our Soil Scientist, Stephanie Sloan, on
effluent testing and use; and knowing what’s in your pond.

North Island | South Island

Agriculture in New Zealand is currently in an interesting place. As we look out over the medium term we have generally good commodity prices across the majority of agriculture sectors, yet we are seeing increasing pressure on environmental compliance, restrictions in new water schemes for which there are a range of views and a changing framework coming in our employment laws. These are not new challenges to our sector to which we adapt as we have done in the past as we all have a great passion for our sector and the communities we live in.

As we head into winter, the focus shifts to ensuring stock is in prime condition for lambing and calving so this edition covers feed options and animal health requirements extensively. We visit Blair Anselmi, drystock and dairy farmer in Piopio. Blair works closely with his Technical Field Representative, Doug Burnell, to achieve his goal of clean pastures and optimal feed quality. Together they work out an annual winter spray programme which involves Nufarm’s Relay® Super S to provide selective control of broadleaf weeds, severely preventing the growth of thistles and ragwort.

Enjoy the read.

North Island  |  South Island

Autumn is settling in and some of you will be in the middle of winter feed budgets. Our Technical Specialist of Soil Science, Stephanie Sloan, explains what should be on your checklist when planning your winter production options and preparing for spring forage.

In this month’s issue, we also explore various options around making good supplementary feed choices for cows in late lactation. We visit Josh Lavender, Contract Milker at Platinum Dairies, in Winton. Working closely with his local Technical Field Representative, David Wheeley, Josh explains the benefits of feeding molasses to dairy cows through lactation.

Keep safe and thank you again for your support of the Cash for Communities programme.

North Island | South Island

In this edition of Rural Diary, we introduce the newest member to the PGG Wrightson Technical Team, Jason Leslie, our South Island Vet. Jason has recently joined PGG Wrightson after 24 years as a Vet in practice. In Jason’s first article, he explains drenching options for lactating cows.

We travelled to Hastings to visit Josh Buckman, who has seen good results from his animal health programme. With help from PGG Wrightson Technical Field Representative, Warren Johnson, he uses Zolvix Plus to drench lambs when they arrive on the property. On the land production front, we visited the Stocker family in Mid-Canterbury, who discuss their winning combination to tackle their battle against nodding thistle. 

Enjoy the read and I hope March brings you some favourable weather, with harvest windows upon us for a number of crops.

North Island  |  South Island

We have certainly seen a lot less hay and silage made so far this summer and, with minimal excess pasture, the importance of planning for the autumn agronomy window is a key focus in this month’s edition. Our North Island Agronomist, Gary Bosley, gives tips on how to maximise performance when renewing pasture and PGG Wrightson Seeds explain key perennial ryegrass selection factors.

We visit Cameron Henderson in Canterbury to discuss his grass grub control programme. PGG Wrightson Technical Field Representative, Kaleb Bolton, has worked with him for
many years now and following Kaleb’s recommendations to incorporate the use of suSCon® Green into his pasture maintenance programme, Cameron has seen positive results.

On the animal health front, our Vet, Andrew Dowling, reminds us to keep the end goal in sight when it comes to tupping.

December 2017
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November 2017
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October 2017
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September 2017
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August 2017
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July 2017
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June 2017
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May 2017
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April 2017
North Island  |  South Island

March 2017
North Island  |  South Island

February 2017
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At PGG Wrightson, we recognise the importance of working alongside our clients.

For on-farm technical advice on feed budgeting, soil fertility, animal health and more, contact your local Technical Field Representative.