It is this year, the world did declare, state sponsored murder became a new fashion A poisoned perfume, in which to resume, a cold war of killing without compassion An English small town, Russian exiles struck down, the Skripals attacked by touring spies But Mr Putin you see, told us all on TV, t’was a … Read more
Greetings everyone, November has been a busy month on the horehound biocontrol front, and it ain’t over just yet! Field day and site searching Earlier in the month we were lucky to host horehound biocontrol expert John Weiss from Australia. John joined us to present at a field day as part of the NZ Grasslands … Read more
“Keep sowing legumes” that’s the message from Professor Moot in response to farmers who have been advised not to put lucerne in their dryland farms because their Farm Environmental Plan shows they leak more nitrogen. Prof Moot considers this a perverse situation caused by using Overseer – he contends the model is an inappropriate tool … Read more
Greetings everyone, We have fantastic news to share with you – our application to release two species of moths for the biological control of horehound was granted approval by the EPA! We were expecting to find out the results only late in September, so receiving the news this early is thrilling. You can read the … Read more
This presentation was made by Prof Derrick Moot on 31 Aug 2018 at the European Society of Agronomy Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland. The presentation discusses the process of moving from a data driven research program to development new grazing management rules for grazing alfalfa through to on-farm adoption of a new system to increase … Read more
This video is a presentation by Prof Derrick Moot at the European Society of Agronomy Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland from 27-31 Aug 2018. This presentation was given on 30 Aug 2018. The presentation discusses the changes seen in the dairy industry in the Canterbury region and outlines some problems and potential solutions to some of … Read more
Greetings all, Yesterday we had our EPA hearing for the two biocontrol agents for horehound. Eight of the 40 submitters asked to speak at the hearing: one was the opposing submission from a herbal medicine company, and the others were submissions in favour of the application. Presentations were a mix of in-person and on a … Read more
Prof Moot was at Bonavaree farm in Marlborough over the weekend where lambing is in full swing. The mild weather is making ideal conditions for lambing and Fraser is confident he has sufficient cover across all paddocks to get him through his major pinch period of mid August. He is is smiling here as he … Read more
Greetings all, One more piece is now ready to add to the biocontrol picture. You may remember that over the spring of 2017 and autumn of 2018 we ran a field survey to find out what is attacking horehound in New Zealand already. The idea was to find out if the biocontrol agents may have … Read more
Greetings all, The formal public consultation on the application to introduce two species of moths as biocontrol agents for horehound has now closed and it is time to take stock of the where we are at. The submissions are all available for the general public to view. You can find them listed under “Application Documents” here. … Read more