Vincent Luisetti has recently returned from a trip to visit Sejet, our Danish cereal breeding partner. Plant and Food Research, Luisetti Seeds and Sejet have been working together for over 25 years in what has been a very successful partnership. Sejet has been breeding cereal varieties since 1947 and has been responsible for breeding malting […]
Valued staff member Gaynor Hurford recently celebrated a significant birthday milestone, and her office was suitably decorated to recognise such an auspicious occasion. Luisetti Seeds staff presented Gaynor with a beautiful throw, necklace and scarf in her favourite colours. Gaynor, who provides accounting support, began working for Luisetti Seeds 11 years ago, after CropWatch was […]
Forage peas are versatile crops which can be grown on their own or partnered with a forage cereal to produce high yielding and high feed-quality cereal silage. Sown on their own, forage peas can yield up to 18 tonnes of dry matter per hectare and when sown in a cereal combination, forage peas have the […]
After four years of Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) trials, Luisetti Seed’s spring-sown feed barley CRBA 148 is proving to be a consistently top performer in yield and test weight. The barley was trialled by FAR on two dryland sites in the Manawatu, three irrigated and one dryland site in Canterbury and two dryland sites […]
After ten minutes of extra time, the Luisetti Seeds North Canterbury Division 1 Competition final between Glenmark-Cheviot and Southern ended in a nail-biting 31-all draw. The match was played at Glenmark’s Omihi grounds on the Monday of Queen’s Birthday weekend. The match had been postponed on the preceding Saturday due to extreme weather. A good-sized […]
High yielding and palatable, fodder beet has become a valued winter crop option, but good planning and preparation is essential to realise its potential. Not all beets are created equal, and James White from Seed Force says the targeted end use of the crop is one of the first things to consider when planning a […]
Environmental regulations are a reality for farmers throughout the country as Regional and Central Governments strive to meet water quality targets. Winter feed crops have come under the regulatory spotlight as a source of nutrient and soil loss, but catch-crops look set to become an important tool to help farmers mop-up nutrients left in the […]
The development of a new breed of artificial intelligence (AI) weeders has the potential to disrupt the $100 billion pesticides industry by significantly reducing the need for universal herbicides. According to an article in The Express Tribune, the development of machines such as one produced by Swiss start-up ecoRobotix, have the ability to scan crop […]
Luisetti Seeds has been trialling new bean cultivars that may have an advantage over the cultivars currently used in the New Zealand frozen vegetable industry. The trials, which were located at Leeston in a paddock of green beans, were harvested for the Heinz Wattie factory at Hornby. The green and yellow cultivars were assessed in […]
Addressing weed and nutrient issues in lucerne stands now will ensure a clean, healthy, high-quality forage crop in spring. Andrew Johnston from Luisetti Seeds says stands should be grazed hard in May (he suggests using high body condition score ewes or dry hoggets), removing all green plant material and as much dead organic matter at […]
After four years managing the Luisetti Seeds Ashburton store, Jack Harnett has hit the road and is servicing clients in the Mid Canterbury region. Jack will be a familiar face to many of our farmers as he has lived and worked in the region all his life. He brings to his new role 18 years […]
High yielding and palatable, fodder beet crops give farmers the ability to winter a large number of stock within a small area and free up pasture on other parts of the farm. This benefits the whole farm system. There are a number of varieties of fodder beet available and farmers should be selecting the varieties […]