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Welcome to<br />
the Autumn<br />
edition of<br />
From the<br />
Ground Up<br />
20 <strong>Arable</strong> Y’s off to Europe<br />
21 Masters <strong>for</strong> Richard Chynoweth<br />
22 Cropping in New Zealand,<br />
an early perspective<br />
22 <strong>Arable</strong> <strong>Research</strong> Groups<br />
19 FAR Board<br />
16<br />
20<br />
A lot has been happening in the last few months as harvest<br />
has been completed, results have been collated and<br />
communicated, research groups have met and publications<br />
have been edited. While working on this newsletter, I am also<br />
helping Rob Craigie put the finishing touches to the Autumn<br />
Sown Cultivar Booklet and a FAR Focus looking at Crop<br />
Sensing, and with Diana Mathers on another FAR Focus, this<br />
one looking at growing crops <strong>for</strong> cows - both on and off the<br />
dairy plat<strong>for</strong>m. So keep an eye on your mailboxes <strong>for</strong> some of<br />
these publications in the coming weeks.<br />
The biggest issue <strong>for</strong> me in recent times has been decision<br />
making around FAR events. After two highly successful<br />
CROPS Expos at Chertsey in 2011 and 2012 we were looking<br />
<strong>for</strong>ward to a third event in 2013. However, consultation with<br />
sponsors has led to a major, but sensible decision to run<br />
CROPS every second year as part of a co-ordinated North<br />
Island-South Island events programme. That means no<br />
CROPS Expo until December 2014. We will still be running<br />
a major field day at Chertsey in early December, but it will<br />
not involve demonstration sites from outside sponsors,<br />
concentrating instead on FAR’s research trials.<br />
What we are busy working on is the FAR Farmer Focus Day<br />
being held in conjunction with the International Herbage<br />
Seed Group’s (IHSG) four-day International Workshop in<br />
Methven in September. The FAR day will include talks from<br />
FAR and international research staff and visits to local farms<br />
to <strong>view</strong> trials. Registration <strong>for</strong> this event is now open via the<br />
IHSG website www.ihsg.org/content/meetings. The cost <strong>for</strong><br />
growers is $30 <strong>for</strong> the FAR Day or $500 <strong>for</strong> the full event.<br />
More details in the next newsletter.<br />
The end of harvest means planning <strong>for</strong> the next season<br />
and FAR staff have been putting a lot of ef<strong>for</strong>t into planning<br />
research programmes and seeking external funding. We were<br />
pleased to receive SFF funding <strong>for</strong> a project investigating<br />
options <strong>for</strong> intensification of land use under irrigation in<br />
Hawke’s Bay. More in<strong>for</strong>mation about this project, Tukituki<br />
choices <strong>for</strong> arable farmers, is outlined later in this newsletter.<br />
- Anna Heslop<br />
3
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