This piece was made in partnership with PGG Wrightson Seeds.

Seed variety selection, backed by the right endophyte and seed treatment, does more to protect a pasture’s productivity and persistence than any savings made by cutting corners. PGG Wrightson Seeds National Technical Manager Wayne Nichol says farmers should start with a feed budget and identify where the season will leave them short.

“I always say start with the long-term – what is the overarching plan for the farm?”

He says the savings that tempt farmers away from proprietary seed can often prove false. Where $100 a hectare has been saved, the first thing he looks at is the endophyte, and whether the latest novel endophyte has been kept or taken out.

“Worst-case scenario is when they start using the likes of uncertified seed, and uncertified seeds usually mean something’s gone wrong.”

It can carry germination or purity problems, or weed contamination that the buyer inherits. He says renewing a failed pasture costs far more than the money saved.

“Especially when we don’t have things like Chlorpyrifos to use anymore, then those sorts of opportunities to use seed treatment are more than ever.”

He says growers should involve their technical field rep early, particularly with the sowing window likely to be short this spring.

Significant investment and forethought sit behind each product before farmers ever see it.

“If we start with a new ryegrass, for example, by the time it hits commercialisation it’s already 10 years old,” he says.

He says the value of that work is in how a cultivar performs within a farm system, not in yield alone.

“Some of these new products have new traits in them that allow us to probably have a little bit more flexibility in the system than what we have in the past.”

Product choice must also match when feed is needed, and recognise that pastures do not last indefinitely. He says more intensive farming and a wider range of pests are adding pressure, and seed mix decisions influence how long a pasture persists.

“Most of the pasture in New Zealand’s ryegrass based, and we are seeing a hotter, drier climate, and ryegrass doesn’t like that.”

He says variety selection extends to summer forage crops.

“In the past, where it might be solely driven by the potential risk of drought, there are some other animal health benefits that have certainly raised interest in summer crops.”

He says recent work spans facial eczema management out of the King Country and the use of crops such as rape, leafy turnip and kale to lift hogget weights ahead of mating.

If you are planning to sow seed in spring, start your planning now. To find out more information, talk to your local PGG Wrightson Technical Field representative.

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