Clover seed expansion raises market problems

Press, 1 July 1983, Page 16

Clover seed expansion raises market problems

Small seed production is another branch of farming many Canterbury farmers are looking at in their efforts to diversify away from meat and wool production. About 150 farmers attended a small seed production seminar at Darfield last week, but it was not all good news for farmers thinking of growing white clover seed. After listening to the speakers one farmer said he detected a sense of gloom because of the risk of overproduction of white clover. According to Mr Grant McFadden, senior farm advisory officer with the M.A.F. in Christchurch, an extra 17,000 ha of land had come under sprinkler irrigation last season in Canterbury. Virtually all this new area would be used for cash cropping and about one quarter would probably be devoted to small seed production, particularly white clover.

Some people had recently expressed concern at the direction in which the small seed industry was heading in the light of the big increase expected in production.

Mr Graham Robertson, chairman of the herbage seed sub-section of Federated Farmers, said the use of white clover was declining throughout the world, and in parts of Europe it was becoming unfashionable to sow white clover in pastures.

The white clover market was not limitless, and although a 50 per cent increase in production was possible, the export markets could not absorb a big increase.

There was no easy way to limit production of white clover seed because farmers were individuals who did not like production controls. A quota system for seed

production in Denmark had not been successful. A less-regulated farming system was necessary which allowed people to react to market opportunities as they appeared. Mr Robertson said promotion of New Zealand’s seeds among consumers was one option open to seed producers. Mr Logan Freeman, a cropping farmer from Aylesbury, who grows 150 to 200 ha of white clover each year, said the viability of growing white clover for seed would depend on the efficiency of the individual growers.

Only the most efficient producers would survive because of the increasing production of white clover.

More careful harvesting methods could result in better yields of herbage seeds, the meeting was told by several speakers. Mr Peter Clifford, of the D.S.I.R. at Lincoln, said there did not need to be many white clover seeds spilled on the ground during harvesting to result in big losses in yield. It was easy to lose 35 per cent of the crop during general harvesting and a 15 per cent loss was considered good.

Improving the harvesting losses offered the greatest hope at present for increasing seed yields, said Mr Clifford.

Because of the large number of variables which could affect a white clover crop such as the fertility of the ground, it was difficult to prepare a package deal for farmers to grow white clover, said Mr Clifford.

There were three main ways to grow white clover: sowing in the autumn with ryegrass which resulted in the clover being in the ground for <24 months; undersown with cereal crops in the spring, 19 months; and sown in the autumn either pure or with a nurse crop, 12 months.

In presenting a management package for the growing of ryegrass seed, Mr Bede McCloy, a farm adviser in agronomy with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, said it was important that farmers understood how the crops grew.

The key factors included a “specialist crop” approach by farmers, minimal harvesting losses, and the production and survival of as many autumn tillers as possible. Autumn would be the sowing time for most ryegrass crops, good quality seed should be used at the correct sowing rate and a seed bed fertiliser used according to the results of a soil fertility test. On paddocks where the ryegrass would not be grazed, nitrogen should not be applied in the autumnwinter period, but if the farming system included sheep many farmers applied a small amount of nitrogen at this time.

The use of nitrogen in the spring varied, but the main bulk should be applied just before the plants went into the reproductive stage. Up to 30 per cent of the potential seed yield could be lost during harvesting from the time the crop was cut until it was in the bin, said Mr McCloy. Some of this loss was often due to poor management.

The key to growing good ryegrass crops was for farmers to spend time amongst the crop which would hopefully enable farmers to make more informed decisions. Dr E. W. Vartha, of the D.S.I.R. at Lincoln, said nitrogen fertiliser could play a big role in the production of ryegrass seed, but the timing of its application was important. The nitrogen would not be used for promoting leaf growth for sheep feed but for feeding

the florets on the ryegrass to provide more seed.

Farmers should think of ;seed quality as well as yields in their management programmes. The effects of grazing a ryegrass varied according to the species. From research it appeared that seed weights were higher from crops that had not been grazed. Mr Gary Wilson, who farms 290 ha near Kirwee of which 240 ha is irrigated, said he grows 12 to 24 ha of Nui ryegrass for seed each year. The ryegrass follows a wheat rotation and the average yield is 1000 kg per ■hectare.

Drilling is completed by mid-March and if the grass was doing well it would be lightly grazed in July or August. Nitrogen was the key to high yields although it could produce a bulky crop with irrigation. The nitrogen was applied when the crop reached the reproductive stage. Ryegrass responded well to irrigation at crucial times and could also be used to wash the nitrogen in.