16 May 1986 Professor Jim White gives advice to mixed cropping farmers

Mixed cropping farmers should not go back to low-technology farming because times were difficult, but should be careful not to over-use high technology, the Professor of Agronomy at Lincoln College, Professor Jim White, has warned.

Some farmers could be spending money needlessly, so there was the need to justify economically the returns from a high rate of nitrogen fertiliser, weed control and fungal sprays, he said.

Professor White was reviewing prospects for the coming season in mixed cropping, particularly in Canterbury.

“Farmers should ask themselves if they can get as much nitrogen from a good clover seed crop rather than from a bag,” he said.

“They should think of smothering yarrow with a good cereal crop rather than spraying at much higher cost, and using resistant wheat cultivars against stripe rust.”

Professor White said farmers should think carefully before putting scarce dollars into inputs. But farmers could not afford to stop doing things which would lift net returns.

“Attention to detail is essential, and regular inspections of growing crops is a must. One farmer missed inspecting his crop of Gwylan barley for 10 days last November, then found scald had spread all through.

"Spraying was too late, and he ended up with 85 per cent screenings.”

Professor White said quality was more important in cropping than ever, and this had been seen in the Cereal 85 wheat competition with the winner having both the best return and the best quality.

The competitor who came last had a respectable six tonnes-a-hectare yield, but kernel weight was low because of a cereal aphid–barley yellow dwarf virus attack and the crop was rejected for milling.

Professor White said yield alone should not be the aim of farmers; high quality was important for all crops.

“Farmers who this year had barley with high screenings, or peas that were discoloured will readily agree.”

Professor White said farmers need to become much more involved in marketing.

“Reliable overseas markets, and bright attractive packaging go along with high quality and high yield

"Growing high yields of high quality crops is not enough. The biggest concern in the coming year will be selling at a good price in the face of falling world prices.”

Selling wheat flour would be deregulated in February next year, and all bakers would then be buying the best flour they could get, he said.

“Unfortunately, wheat breeders have not quite met the challenge of deregulation.

"Flour from New Zealand wheat this year scored around MDD 25, compared with 25–28 for Australian flour.

“If New Zealand wheat is to compete with that from Australia the only cultivar from last year is Oroua.

The new DSIR releases Kotare and Weka may well be as good, but seed supplies are limited to about 500 tonnes each.”

Otane, another high-quality DSIR release, was basically an early-maturing spring wheat, and should not be sown before July.

Professor White said the outlook for export barley in the coming year was not likely to be any better than in the present season.

Wet conditions at harvest in Australia and Argentina last season meant that a lot of wheat went to the feed trade, competing with barley and other coarse grains.

World markets were not being helped by continued highly subsidised production of barley in European Community countries.

New Zealand could not continue to see barley as a crop for which “you shut the gate after sowing and open it to let the header in,” he said.

Barley needed as much regular attention as wheat, with crop hygiene the key to higher yields and low screenings. Choosing a variety for good disease resistance and autumn sowing on lighter land would help keep costs down.

“Our first crop of Illia barley sown in autumn on the college arable farm this year yielded 7.8 t/ha compared with only four tonnes from spring-sown crops,” he said.

Professor White said overseas markets for both grain and vining peas were likely to continue to be reasonably good this coming year.

Improving packaging and marketing must be continued to retain New Zealand’s reputation for quality.

Peas had a bright export future, so long as the European Community did not flood the New Zealand market with subsidised surpluses.

A good range of cultivars was available to farmers, among these two DSIR semi-leafless varieties, Lovelock (white) and Impulse (blue), both suitable for lighter soils.

Professor White said that in the 1985–86 season a smaller area was closed for white clover seed, and the season had been wet.

This had resulted in a shortage of seed and a consequent rise in price.

Keeping white clover in rotation was important for adding nitrogen to the soil, and also provided excellent feed after harvest for finishing store lambs.

New DSIR releases of Pitau, Tahora, Kopu (G18) and some Aberystwyth cultivars on contract had made growing pure seed difficult for white clover-seed growers.

Most cropping farm paddocks had so much hard seed of Huia in the soil that growing pure seed of any other cultivar was almost impossible.

Farmers in new irrigation areas, where Huia had never been sown, should try growing these other cultivars, he said.

Soil testing for hard seed, by DSIR Grasslands Division for breeders’ seed, was the only sure way of finding out whether there was a high level of Huia seed.

On new crops, Professor White said the message from last year’s agronomy conference at Lincoln College was to “take great care with the agronomy of any new crop, and make sure the market is well developed and quite assured.”

Oil seed rape was grown on many farms last year, and a paddock at the college harvested 2.3 t/ha with a good return of 43 c/kg.

“If world prices hold, this may well become a useful new break crop,” he said.

Lentils were also a crop with a future, and both the college Plant Science Department and DSIR had done work on the agronomy of the crop.

Unfortunately the wet season did not favour lentils, and yields were disastrous.

But the market for lentils as a health food had good potential, and so the crop was worth persisting with, sown in autumn on drier soils. Professor White said yields of two to four tonnes were possible in a normal season.

And for all crops farmers hoped for a more normal season with soil moisture restored by good winter rains.

The main cause of many cropping farmers feeling the cold winds of low incomes in 1986 were the unusual weather conditions of last season.

Winter and early spring drought had been followed by very wet and humid November and December.

Costs had continued to rise in high-technology crop management being used by many farmers.

Professor White believes New Zealand cropping farmers are the most skilled and efficient in the world, and agricultural policies should not let the expertise be wasted.

“I think it would be a severe blow if our wheat industry collapses and we import all our requirements from Australia.”

Export earnings from field crops continued to rise, with the potential for further development.

However, a concerted effort was needed by Government, commercial firms and processors, and farmers to meet quality standards, package products attractively, and develop overseas markets vigorously, he said.

Further information from Professor Jim White, Plant Science Department, Lincoln College 8150, Canterbury, New Zealand; phone (03) 252-811 extension 838.