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THIS PROMOTIONAL FEATURE WAS PROVIDED BY CROPMARK SEEDS

Cropmark Seeds are excited to release a new Spring barley to the New Zealand market that comes from the world leading Syngenta UK barley breeding programme.

SY Dolomite is a new feed barley variety developed in NZ in conjunction with Cropmark Seeds as head licensee and released to the NZ market for the first time this year. Other recent releases from this programme include SY Transformer and SY Silhouette Spring barleys.

With medium height, medium maturity, and moderate-stiff straw, SY Dolomite was selected for its ease of management and reliable yield across all environments. SY Dolomite has the ability to yield over 12 tonnes per hectare in high yield potential environments by taking advantage of good growing conditions. However, it can also produce reliable yields, good grain size and test weights when yield potential is reduced due to dry weather.

SY Dolomite will produce a reliable high yield at any sowing time and can be sown from May through to early November, with plant growth regulator and fungicide inputs tailored to the different sowing times.

While being an excellent option for grain production, it is also well suited as a whole crop silage variety. High quality silage is achievable due to its high grain yield, good straw production and good resistance to most diseases including scald and mildew.

Starting life as one ear selected out of 20,000 ears back in 2014 by the Syngenta UK barley breeder, SY Dolomite is a cross between Laureate and Piper and has been in 42 replicated trials all over NZ, numerous full paddock evaluations and seed production paddocks prior to its commercialisation.

As a measure of its success, SY Dolomite has performed well in all Cereal Performance Trials (CPT) trials to date, which have been independently run on commercial arable farms throughout New Zealand under the organisation of the CPT committee. The data from these trials, which is published by FAR, represents trial sites across a range of both irrigated and dryland areas throughout Southland, Canterbury, and Manawatu in the North Island over an average of four years.

The trials are sown amongst commercial crops and are treated with the same management inputs and subject to the same climatic conditions. This gives end-users confidence that varieties that perform at the top of these trials have been rigorously tested and evaluated for yield, grain quality and tolerance to disease throughout a wide range of farm environments.

Cropmark are anticipating high demand for sowing seed of the new variety this Spring. SY Dolomite is available in either 500kg or 25kg bags and can be treated with Poncho and/or Kinto Duo seed treatments.

For more information on this new variety, contact your Ruralco representative.