Cut with care
OPINION: The new government has clearly signalled big cuts across the public service.
The first step in tackling herbicide resistance in arable farming is admitting you have a problem, says Australian specialist Dr Peter Boutsalis.
It was grassroots intelligence for farmers last week, when the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) opened the gates to its Chertsey trial farm in Mid Canterbury.
Canterbury cropping farmers now have access to a Farm Environment Plan (FEP) template developed especially for their farm system.
Like a martial art, sustainable and smart pest and disease management relies on understanding opponents’ strengths and weaknesses and using these against them, says Charles Merfield of Lincoln University’s biological husbandry unit (BHU).
Do you know how docks, thistles and dandelions differ in their ability to regrow? Or from how deep particular weed species germinate? Or what are the alternative hosts for the pests that try to demolish your crops?
While feed wheat variety Wakanui still tops the tables for four year adjusted mean yield in Canterbury, a couple of newer cultivars are nipping at its heels.
OPINION: The new government has clearly signalled big cuts across the public service.
OPINION: Your canine crusader is not surprised by the recent news that New Zealand plant-based ‘fake meat’ business is in…