Four-Year Trial Confirms Plantain Cuts N Losses 33%
A four year trial has reaffirmed that mixing plantain into dairy pastures can help reduce nitrogen losses to freshwater while maintaining milk production and profitability, say researchers.
Overseer Limited says it has worked with crop specialists - including rural professionals, Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) and the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research - to use the latest science and crop information to update existing crop parameters.
It has also expanded the number of crops represented in the Overseer crop sub-model.
Chief executive of Overseer Limited Caroline Read says a total of 71 crops can now be modelled. She claims the improvment means the tool better represents the diverse range of cropping rotations in New Zealand.
"The updating of the crop parameters for some existing crops and the inclusion of new crops is the culmination of a three-year project which began in 2018," she says.
"The improvement reflects our commitment to keep improving OverseerFM and adding value for farmers and growers."
Read adds that the company is continually developing the software, so it is easier to use. She says this includes both entering data and sharing data with multiple parties, reducing unnecessary duplication and inefficiencies.
"We are particularly excited to be able to include hemp as a crop within OverseerFM given the rapidly developing market for this crop."
The following additional crops can now be modelled for crop blocks:
- Forages: forage wheat - spring
- Grain: oil seed rape, sunflowers, linseed (flax)
- Pasture seed: plantain, cocksfoot
- Legume vegetables: broad beans
- Crop - other: hemp (fibre), tulip bulbs
- Crop seeds - red beet, carrot (OP), rape - autumn, pak choi, hemp (seed/oil), radish (OP).
There are updated crop parameters for some existing crops including:
- Forages: annual ryegrass, forage barley - spring, forage oats - spring and autumn, rye corn - spring and autumn, triticale - spring and autumn
- Grain: barley - spring, oats - spring and autumn, wheat - spring and autumn
- Pasture seed: white clover, rye grass
- Green vegetables: broccoli - winter, spring, and summer, brussel sprouts, cabbage - winter, spring and summer, cauliflower - winter, spring and summer, lettuce
- Legume vegetables: beans - green, beans - dried, lentils, peas - green, peas - dried
- Root vegetables: carrot
- Other crops: sweetcorn
Further information on the crops that can be modelled in OverseerFM can be found at: www.overseer.org.nz or in the Overseer Knowledgebase.
