Orders From Australia For Canterbury Ryegrass

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31017, 24 March 1966, Page 17

Orders From Australia For Canterbury Ryegrass

Considerable quantities of ryegrass have been exported to Australia from Canterbury in recent weeks. This trade came after the break in the drought in Victoria, and most of the seed was shipped to Melbourne.

Most of the seed was perennial, with a small quantity of Hl. Merchants were pleased with the orders, but said they were not sufficient to cause a price movement locally.

The trade has now tailed off, but one merchant thought that good follow-up rains in New South Wales could lead to some orders from Sydney. Very little business has yet been done with the United Kingdom. Some merchants describe the market as dead, but say that it is as yet a little early to expect much from that part of the world. Seed for spring sowings will

have been obtained some time ago. Purchases made from now on will be for autumn sowings, and trading during the following spring. Trade in partridge peas has been described as very poor. A lot of forward selling is conducted with partridge peas, sales made last year being for delivery during February and March this year.

Those orders are in the process of being filled, but prompt sales, in contrast, are very limited. Locally, red clover and lucerne crops remain to be harvested, but it will be at least three weeks before an opinion can be expressed on the harvest. Fair acreages were shut up for these crops, but merchants say the success of the harvest will depend on the weather