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
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
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
The application to introduce moths for biological control of horehound is now open for public submissions. To make an effective submission make sure you State clearly whether your submission is in support of the application Include your contact details Include quantifiable information about the impact of horehound on your farming operation (how much money and … Read more
Greetings everyone, We have reached a major milestone today – this morning the application to introduce two biocontrol agents for horehound has now been formally lodged with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). The EPA now has up to 10 working days to acknowledge the application had been received and to post it on their website … Read more
Greetings all, It is time to update you that the EPA application is progressing well. We are awaiting confirmation of details for two more issues and finishing touches of quality checks before lodging the application with the EPA. We will post an update here as soon as the application has been lodged, because the formal consultation … Read more
We were recently contacted by a Vet because he had visited a property where Romney ewe hoggets had been grazing lucerne since January 4th til APRIL 4th. At this time the hoggets were showing signs of udder development which is a clear indication of a highly oestrogenic crop. In our experience young stock such as … Read more