PGG Wrightson Seeds

10/11/2025

Join Maggie, our Upper North Island Forage Agronomist, at the Pencarrow trial site as she shares what’s happening on the ground and how it’s helping deliver better pasture outcomes for farmers.

04/11/2025

For years, we’ve recommended precision sowing with our Ultrastrike® pelleted swede seed, as the combination of Ultrastrike® seed treatment and uniform placement has proven to deliver strong establishment and maximise bulb yields.

Ultrastrike® pelleted swede seed is available in:
• Cleancrop™ Aspiring
• Cleancrop™ Hawkestone
• Clutha Gold
• Earnslaw

We have a few tips for establishing your seed:
• Address any fertility issues identified by a soil test. Ideally, this is done in autumn to allow time to adjust soil pH.
• If the soil is compacted, consider subsoiling.
• Ensure a thorough spray out. Leave the vegetation to die down, then plough and work the soil into a fine, firm seedbed before precision sowing. Remember to apply starter fertiliser and trace elements such as boron.
• If using Cleancrop™ Aspiring or Hawkstone, apply the Telar™ within 48 hours of planting.
• Monitor paddocks for crop emergence to make sure there are no bugs eating seedlings. Remember, every seedling counts!

Our aim is to enhance farmer profitability by providing proprietary grass and forage seed that provide high quality feed for improved animal performance and production.

27/10/2025

PGG Wrightson Seeds Kimihia Research Centre traces its origins back to 1841.

Spanning 250 hectares based on the edge of Lincoln township, Kimihia hosts a diverse range of activities, including plant breeding, product development, animal nutrition trials, extension services, seed production, and novel crop research, to name a few.

Our aim is to enhance farmer profitability by providing proprietary grass and forage seed that provide high quality feed for improved animal performance and production.

25/10/2025

Not all farm systems or circumstances are the same, but we know that sharing knowledge can make a difference.

Prone to summer dryness? Hamish Marshall, PGG Wrightson Technical Field Representative, has recommended Pallaton Raphno® for several farm systems through his own drought experience in the upper South Island. Hamish cites its water use efficiency, reduced need for aphicides, and flexibility of grazing as saving many farmers from selling stock over the summer months.

While forage r**e is commonly used to manage summer dry conditions, many of Hamish’s clients noticed a clear advantage with Pallaton Raphno®. Bred from a unique cross between kale and radish, Pallaton Raphno® combines the best traits of both species particularly tolerance to dry conditions. Trials conducted at Ashley Dene in Canterbury observed a 38% increase in water-use efficiency with Raphno® compared to Goliath forage r**e.

Across the country, damage from brassica pests such as aphids can occur. However, Hamish’s clients observed that aphids aren't as prolific with Pallaton Raphno®, which is recognised for its tolerance to aphids.

As a multiple-graze forage brassica, Raphno® adds flexibility to grazing systems, supporting both store stock finishing and replacement rearing. Hamish saw it used under both set stocking and rotational grazing, with rotational systems generally delivering better results by maximising crop growth and animal performance. Success relied on correct stocking rates and following best practice guidelines as part of Hamish’s recommendations.

Click the link to read the full article in the Rural Diary: https://f.mtr.cool/ukpkjaypqq

Our aim is to enhance farmer profitability by providing proprietary grass and forage seed that provide high quality feed for improved animal performance and production.

18/10/2025

8 Tips for Establishing New Spring Pasture

1. Species selection: Choose the right pasture product for your situation. Consider your ryegrass endophyte options or alternatives like tall fescue or cocksfoot.

2. Don’t forget legumes! 🍀 These powerhouses of pasture can contribute 20–30 kg of nitrogen per hectare per tonne of clover grown. Amigain red clover and Quartz white clover are great options.

3. Soil preparation 🌿: A w**d-free, well-prepared seedbed is key. Ensure good seed-to-soil contact.

4. Superstrike® seed treatment: Crucial for direct drilling, this gives a better chance of success.

5. Soil temperature 🌡️: Aim for 10°C and rising for fast germination and emergence. This helps pasture compete with w**ds.

6. Sowing depth 📏: For clovers, aim for 5-10mm. If it is sown too deep, it leads to poor emergence.

7. Monitor, monitor, monitor 🔎: Keep an eye out for w**ds and pests during establishment.

8. Grazing tips 🐄🐑: Do a pull test. If plants are anchored and do not pull out, it’s ready for a light graze. Don’t delay too long or legumes may be shaded out.

For more specific advice on your situation, contact your field representative.

Our aim is to enhance farmer profitability by providing proprietary grass and forage seed that provide high quality feed for improved animal performance and production.

13/10/2025

From the Canterbury plains to the rolling hills of the Waikato is where you’ll find Greig Cousins refining his craft. With 15 years of experience, Greig has fine-tuned some of the best chicory lines in New Zealand. He’s put them through their paces to see which have the persistence to thrive in New Zealand’s unique conditions.

Only when a selection has proven its production, palatability, perenniality, and persistence does Greig give it the green light for farms.

When Greig is not breeding the best lines in chicory, he’s casting the finest lines in rivers – an expert fly fisherman who’s always hooked on the perfect catch.

His latest achievement, Sika chicory, is setting the standard across the country, tasty enough for finishing lambs or fuelling dairy herds, showing that even in tough seasons, Greig is casting perfection, one line at a time.

Discover how Sika chicory can boost your pasture growth and persistence. Find out more here: https://f.mtr.cool/zviarlevdt

Our aim is to enhance farmer profitability by providing proprietary grass and forage seed that provide high quality feed for improved animal performance and production.

11/10/2025

Midway proving its worth in Northland

When Purua sharemilker Troy Ruddell was looking for a new pasture option for his 800-cow split calving system, he wanted a persistent, high-yielding grass with strong spring growth. He found this in Midway, our new diploid perennial ryegrass, which in his words, “jumped out of the ground and tillered up quickly.”

Sam Wiltshire, our Northland/Northern Waikato Area Sales Agronomist, agrees: “Midway AR37 is the perfect grass for Northland. It's strong mid-season growth gives you more feed before the region typically dries off, and its high tiller density helps it bounce back after summer.”
Midway offers:
🌱Versatility across all farm systems
🌱Strong growth in spring and mid-season
🌱Proven persistence in Northland conditions

Discover how Midway can boost your pasture growth and persistence. Find out more here: https://f.mtr.cool/zcukcrikvg

Our aim is to enhance farmer profitability by providing proprietary grass and forage seed that provide high quality feed for improved animal performance and production.

06/10/2025

Congratulations to Ash Beattie of Glenlee Run, who enjoyed the swede taste of success this year with Cleancrop™ Hawkestone swede.

Ash took out the hill-cultivated swede category at this year’s Taieri Winter Crop Competition. A good season of moisture, mild weather, and consistent rainfall set the crop up for success, and Ash credits the conditions for his first win.

Ash’s 40ha swede crop, grown more than 600m above sea level, is now keeping calves, ewes, and hoggets well-fed. After the first frost hit, the crop got even sweeter, literally, as the cold brings up the sugars in the swedes.
To read the full story, check it out here:

An award-winning swede crop grown high on a Strath Taieri hill tastes better after being hit by its first frost.

28/09/2025

Meet Brian Maw, Research Operations Manager and Clover Breeder at PGG Wrightson Seeds, based at our Ohaupo research facility in Waikato. Brian leads the region’s breeding and development programme to ensure every new cultivar thrives in New Zealand’s diverse farming systems.

At Ohaupo, we test under:
- Periodic moisture stress; and
- Cattle grazing trials that simulate real-world farm challenges.

Our standout performers at Ohaupo include:
- Ryegrasses with AR37 endophyte (Midway and Accrue) for superior pest resilience; and
- Red clover varieties like Amigain to boost summer feed protein.

After the recent drought, the site has recovered strongly. This winter, Brian and his team measured persistence, drought tolerance and pest tolerance to refine our development programme and ensure real-world results back every PGG Wrightson Seeds cultivar.

Our aim is to enhance farmer profitability by providing proprietary grass and forage seed that provide high quality feed for improved animal performance and production.

23/09/2025

As the ground begins to dry out, the planning and preparation begins for sowing post-winter crop. It is hard not to get carried away with trying to get seed in the ground as soon as you can get a tractor on the paddock. However, there are a few things to consider to ensure the success of the following crop.

When sowing brassicas or clover, the soil temperature should be 10 degrees or higher. This not only aids in the rapid establishment but also enhances the effectiveness of any pre-emergence chemistry used on brassicas.

If the crop paddock is ex-brassica, all plant residues need to be buried. This will decrease the amount of dry rot spores that will be produced on the decomposing plant residues. These spores are transported by wind and will infect any brassica crops downwind from last season’s brassica paddock.

Lastly, when sowing crops with a low clubroot tolerance, such as swedes, turnips and forage r**e, avoid any paddocks that have either had brassicas in them in the last 5 years or paddocks that have been used to transition stock onto brassica crops in the last 5 years. These transition paddocks would have had soil transfer from the crop paddock, making them a higher clubroot risk paddock.

Our aim is to enhance farmer profitability by providing proprietary grass and forage seed that provide high quality feed for improved animal performance and production.

20/09/2025

📍 Kiwikawa Station, Hawke’s Bay
Lucien and Becky Keightley manage a diverse 720-hectare sheep and beef farm. Their farm system includes:
• 200 Angus stud cows
• 1,500 breeding ewes
• A mix of trading and finishing stock

After great success with Kestrel kale, Lucien and Becky introduced Cleancrop™ Sarge kale into their system in 2024, looking for a more modern option with improved feed value and w**d control.

Despite a tough start to the season, Cleancrop™ Sarge impressed. “It didn’t germinate until sufficient moisture arrived in January, and we were worried the Telar® wouldn’t be effective, but no w**ds emerged. Through impressive growth, it made up for the late germination and caught up in total dry matter production, and we’ve seen better utilisation than previous crops.” Sarge has performed especially well for their young stock. "The leaf grows far down the marrow stem, which was soft and palatable. We did a snap test, and it broke like a crunchy apple. We’ve seen a noticeable difference in our one-year heifers."

For Lucien and Becky, it's the consistency they value most. "Each plant stands well, and the leaf content is noticeably higher than other varieties we’ve used."Cleancrop™ Sarge was recommended by their local PGG Wrightson Seeds Sales Agronomist, Chelsea Alabaster. With support from Farmlands Hastings, they integrated it into their system easily. The Cleancrop™ Brassica System has taken their crop management to the next level.

15/09/2025

Since 1991, the National Forage Variety Trials (NFVT) have provided independent data on the dry matter performance of pasture cultivars. Funded and coordinated by the seed companies of the NZ Plant Breeders and Research Association, the NFVTs are nationwide trials run under industry-agreed standards each year. That means farmers get trusted insights and protection against unproven seed claims.

At PGG Wrightson Seeds, all our products undergo rigorous testing, from breeding and development trials through on-farm evaluations and are continuously monitored throughout their lifecycle by our expert team of plant breeders, forage agronomists, animal nutritionists, farm systems specialists and regional extension officers. That is how we knew early on that Midway and Accrue, diploid perennial ryegrasses, would deliver standout results.

• Midway (with AR37 endophyte) has strong dry matter production in early spring, autumn and winter, perfect for calving, lambing and during the cool parts of the year.
• Accrue (with AR37 endophyte) shows robust growth in summer, autumn and winter, making it versatile for all systems.

Click the link to dive into the latest summaries of NFVT trial data and see how our other ryegrasses performed:
https://f.mtr.cool/qolzsteqkg

To see our own testing on Midway and Accrue, diploid perennial ryegrasses, click here:
https://f.mtr.cool/fywpjgxoup

Our aim is to enhance farmer profitability by providing proprietary grass and forage seed that provide high quality feed for improved animal performance and production.