42 | CENTURY FARMS » Murrays Nursery Murrays Nursery building on a legacy Understanding the needs of clients has been important, with the focus on improving tree survival rates. Sue Russell Patrick Murray leads Woodville-based Murray’s Nursery, established by his father Maurice back in 1961. The family’s connection to the land, however, extends well before this date, to 1876, a legacy Patrick is very proud of. Murray’s Nursery are recipients also of a Century Farms Award, joining an elite group of farming operations in New Zealand that are multi-generational. While the area of land has remained at 38ha, the nursery has extended somewhat to the north of the original block, having sold a portion to Horizons Regional Council in 2014. “We took the opportunity as my father had bought land to the north we knew was in a better position for growing. The 19ha we sold had three different types of soil and historically the area was quite swampy,” Patrick says. By concentrating vigorously on seed raising technologies involving the smallest of details driven by considerable research and development today Murrays Nurseries grows the equivalent of 165km of seed beds. Patrick’s own experience goes back to the late 70’s, joining the harvest crew while still at school. Sadly, Maurice passed away suddenly the day before planting out his 50th crop. Patrick says through his formative years in the nursery, a sense of frustration over technologies and machinery used in the nursery began to inform his thinking that there must be better, smarter, more productive ways to grow seedlings for their commercial clients. Understanding the needs of these clients has been important, with the focus on improving tree survival rates. “We have concentrated on increasing the root collar diameter (RCD) to above commercial specifications which means we’ve reduced the rejection rate,” says Patrick. Design and development of a 10-row seed sower has offset the increase in production costs, given the additional spacing. One thing Patrick understands very well, is that when the business is working at the scale his nursery is, with estimates, given perfect growing conditions of producing nearly 17million seedlings annually. Since 2015, the nursery has significantly reduced fungicide use. Typically radiata seedlings are prone to be affected by six or seven funguses. One of the solutions to counter this was to increase yield, achieved through wider seedling spacing. 0800 366 700 www.forest360.co.nz ONLY THE BEST FOR YOUR FORESTRY MANAGEMENT Proudly independent and backed by over 30 years experience in all areas of forest advisory work and management. . • to page 44
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