18 | ARABLE » Rangitata Holdings The team at Rangitata Holdings grow wheat very successfully in large volumes. • from page 16 Some of our spring application of fertiliser is flown on by Duncan Hart of SkyFarmer as these fertilisers cannot be ground-spread to 48m and more tramlines are not acceptable. If ground conditions are wet Duncan has also done some crop spraying. Getting fertiliser and sprays on at the correct time is essential Rangitata Holdings has established a reputation world-wide for growing wheat very successfully in large volumes. They gained the Guinness World Record for wheat yield in 2017, and beat their own record in 2020 – greatly assisted in agronomy advice and the administration to do with the record attempts by David Weith of Bayer Crop Science.. Eric says to achieve these high yields you have to do everything right from day one, including the prevention of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus, which is transmitted by aphids. Other yield-robbing diseases such as septoria and rusts need also to be prevented. Observation and input timings are crucial. “Having good soil certainly helps us and the weather plays a big part. Wheat likes nice sunny days and cool nights.” Plant breeders have now produced wheat varieties which have some resistance to the abovementioned, more serious wheat diseases. There’s a frustration about how New Zealand, as a crop farming country exporting large volumes, does not have access to the potential of gene editing technology like Crispa. “It would make a significance difference if there was greater understanding of the real gains this would achieve for the sector. Sadly, crop farming here is somewhat overlooked yet it is a vital sector, supplying plant and seed to consumers, horticulturalists, and pastural farmers for feed. ” The Foundation for Arable Research (FAR), is an organisation Eric believes needs to be recognised for the research they do to support cropping farmers to use seed and growing systems that support the environment. “They look at the carbon and nitrate leaching properties of certain plants and this work is really valuable in this day and age when so much focus is put on environmental sustainability.” When Business Rural spoke with Eric, toward the end of Spring, his time was spent irrigating, crop spraying and monitoring crop growth. “The wheat and grass crops are looking good at the moment. Vege seeds are growing quite happily. Though the cold, dry spring appeared to hold back some growth most crops have now caught up their growth stages. Challenges of course present in a number of ways including, and not least, dramatic increases in costs for the arable industry including machinery, fertiliser and diesel. “They’ve sky-rocketed and some of our returns for produce haven’t come up enough to match these costs.” Eric says that, as a well-established cropping farmer, with strong business relationships established over many years, working on the land is a good life. “We’re fortunate that we can get away and visit other places because we enjoy travelling. Winter being a relatively quiet time on the farm we can restore some life balance to the long hours of the growing and harvest seasons. Contact: Duncan Hart 027 481 1915 or 03 302 8400 e: info@skyfarmers.co.nz www.skyfarmers.co.nz Aerial Spraying Aerial Topdressing |
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