Spray duo provides top protection in high-stakes cereal crops
As the seed cereal manager at Carrfields, in Ashburton, Phil Smith carries a fair weight of responsibility.
Initially based in Dunedin, the new position has a New Zealand-wide focus; growing Germinal’s customer base, building on the work done in the past and the success of the Aber High Sugar Grass varieties.
The company says Miller brings great knowledge and understanding of the New Zealand agronomy sector, as well as hands-on, on-farm, experience from his 200ha, family-owned, dairy farm on the Taieri Plains, near Dunedin.
With a Bachelor of Commerce from Lincoln University, Miller’s career has centred around the seed industry
. “I started work at a small seed company, Hodder and Tolley, and have now come full circle to an exciting and growing, international seed company, Germinal,” he said.
In between he has worked for Wrightson Seeds as a consultant in Australia, Ravensdown in the lower half of the South Island and most recently in an advisory and training role in the Grain and Seed division of Farmlands as an agronomist.
“We sold Germinal products at Farmlands so I know the varieties well. Germinal has high quality varieties which fit many New Zealand systems already, but we are developing new material even better suited to the New Zealand market which will come on stream in the years ahead.
“Germinal has strong science behind its products, so helping farmers understand and realise these benefits by increasing production and profitability excites me and will be extremely satisfying,” he said.
