The company has communicated with the 556 farmers who were sold the white-fleshed brassica variety thinking they had bought yellow-fleshed Hawkstone Cleancrop.
Human error meant the seed was substituted during the supply chain process and he acknowledged it could have implications for farmers.
The mistake was discovered late last week and Green said it had sent information to farmers and industry bodies such as Beef + Lamb NZ, DairyNZ, Federated Farmers and the NZ Veterinary Association.
“Everybody will be getting the facts as soon as we can and then we will swing into action and work with farmers who think they will need to adjust feed priorities.”
Green said the two varieties produced identical drymatter and farmers had sown 45,000ha of the white-fleshed variety in the last seven years.
“We’re conscious some dairy farmers who have looked to utilise Cleancrop technology and changed cultivars have now got something that if they had their own way would not have sown.”
When toxicity issues emerged in 2014, especially in dairy cows, Green said PGG Wrightson worked closely with DairyNZ to highlight best management practice and would be ready to do so again if needed.
