Dozens attend field day to discuss threats to crops

An oat industry field day was held on a farm in Gore last week. Shawn McAvinue found out why oats float the boats of (from left) Harraway and Sons chief executive Henry Hawkins, Plant Research New Zealand principal plant breeder Adrian Russell and new Zealand Oat Industry Group chairman and oat grower Graeme Gardyne.

Strategies are needed to help oat growers battle pests, diseases and adverse weather, a plant breeder says.

About 70 people attended an oat industry field day on Graeme and Elspeth Gardyne’s farm Viewbrae in Chatton, about 20km north of Gore last week.

Plant Research New Zealand managing director and principal plant breeder Adrian Russell, of Christchurch, said a global trend was crops being hammered more often by adverse weather for the past three years.

"Mostly heat and cold at the wrong time ... we’ve got to read those signals and start to find strategies to get around that."

Strategies to combat the heat were planting crops earlier or spreading crops between autumn and spring.

"So if one gets taken out, the other is hopefully OK."

There was a need to breed varieties which could cope with the weather extremes and produce a more stable yield.

Another strategy was breeding crops for early maturity so they were "in and out as quickly as possible and safely in a silo".

Some pests and diseases of crops, which had never posed a risk before were now becoming more prevalent and problematic.

The search was on for new genetics to provide resistance.

Globally, especially in Europe and the United Kingdom, pesticides were being withdrawn, removing tools for farmers to protect crops against pests and viruses.

New genetics were needed for crops to cope, he said.

"The problems are coming faster and we are going to need more tools in the toolbox."

He believed gene editing technology should be allowed in New Zealand to help farmers grow reliable crops.

"That’s a debate that will be ongoing for a long time."

He hoped some of the trial crops grown in Chatton would soon "tick enough boxes" to be available to farmers to grow.

"To get to this point we’ve looked at hundreds of thousands of plants and thousands of plot trials over many years."

Oat growers were "vulnerable" by growing just the L5 variety.

The trial oat crops in Chatton had ripened fast this year due to the heat and lack of rainfall.

However, the hot and dry conditions had been a good test for the trial crops and provided data on their resilience.

Mr Russell thanked the Gardyne family "for giving so much to the group".

Mr Gardyne, the New Zealand Oat Industry Group chairman, said three combine harvesters and crews harvested hundreds of individual trial plots for testing including Plant Research New Zealand in Canterbury and its suitability for milling at Harraway & Sons in Dunedin.

The research was a joint effort, Mr Gardyne said.

"We are all in this game together."

Harraway & Sons chief executive Henry Hawkins, of Dunedin, said Harraway & Sons had record sales and profitability in the past financial year.

Production costs were increasing such as packaging costs rising 20%.

Rising fuel costs was a "pain point", especially the cost of diesel to get product across Cook Strait.

The cost for the same amount of contracted grain cost $1.6 million more than it did last year, he said.

To recoup some of the expense it had increased its prices in supermarkets in the past year.

If the prices had been increased enough was a "delicate topic".

"It’s a balancing act ensuring we remain on-shelf and competitive."

Exciting times lay ahead for the oat industry, he said.

"There’s a lot to look forward to."

He concluded his speech thanking the Gardyne family and Plant Research New Zealand for their contribution to the oat breeding programme.

"We thank you for your time and energy."

shawn.mcavinue@alliedpress.co.nz