Arable Focus: Recommended List newcomers starting to find their place

That is the view of David Parish, agronomist for The Arable Group (TAG), who says of the six new varieties elevated to the HGCA’s Recommended List last autumn, with an even representation across the nabim groups, in his opinion only one really stands out.

“Group 3 soft wheat biscuit-maker, Invicta (Nickerson) fits the bill for my growers in terms of its end use markets and, at long last, is a variety to take on the mantle of stalwarts such as Claire and Consort,” says Mr Parish, who advises on land across Bedfordshire.

The highest yielding Group 3 variety, Invicta (103) will suit growers in the central belt of England with its good milling end uses, he believes. “Growers in this region need to rely on local markets and, with its reasonable quality, all round disease profile and good standing power, Invicta looks to be a good replacement for other Group 3s which are getting a little long in the tooth now.”

Mr Parish says seed availability for Invicta could be tight ahead of this autumn as demand for the variety may be high, depending however on how it performs in trials this year.

“The only disappointment for me is that it doesn’t have orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM) resistance,” he adds.

Of the two new listed oilseed rape varieties for the East and West regions last autumn, (there were no new Recommendations for the North), he says conventional open pollinated variety DK-Cabernet (Dekalb) catches the eye, although admits it is not a new variety for his growers. “We have a big area in the ground already having seen it perform well in trials in recent years prior to it becoming listed.”

“It’s the variety with the highest yield potential (111) and looks to have a significant step up on the popular conventional variety Castille (102).”

DK-Cabernet is later maturing and taller than Castille, which growers in fertile situations should be aware of.

“It’s done very well for us in terms of yield so far and it’ll be one of the first choices for my growers come the autumn,” says Mr Parish.

Prime Agriculture agronomist X W Marion Self agrees DK-Cabernet is a good step forward for oilseed rape yields and may prompt growers into switching varieties.

Advising in Suffolk, she says this is the first season her growers have the variety on farm - a decision made easy by its yield potential.

“There’s a bit of a move towards conventional varieties at the moment and with a yield at 111, you can see why,” she says.

As well as being high yielding, DK-Cabernet’s good disease package is attractive and, although slightly taller than Castille, it is a reasonably strong variety.

“There is the issue of later maturity (4), which was apparent on farm at early flowering, and could potentially lead to management issues.

Opportunity

“That said, it’s an opportunity to match it with a slightly earlier maturing variety which could help spread the workload at harvest,” says Ms Self.

She considers that her growers may also go for the other newcomer, Fashion (Senova), which is earlier maturing than DK-Cabernet and also yielding 2 per cent better than recently-listed conventional variety Vision (106).

Advising on mostly Group 1, 3 and 4 winter wheats, she feels it is too early to get excited about new Group 2 varieties particularly as neither of the new entrants has resistance to OWBM. Although she does acknowledge they offer a significant yield improvement within this group.

“Kingdom (Syngenta) although slightly lower yielding (100) than KWS-Sterling (102), is quite similar to Cordiale in terms of yield, and it looks promising as a bread-making export variety with good quality traits.

“Protein is a little better than average, and specific weight is good. But I’ll want to see how the market takes it before committing to this variety,” she says.

Invicta will find a place on farm this autumn suiting “the keen” Group 3 growers with its high yield and good resistance to yellow rust. “I’ve none on farm at the moment, but I’m expecting there to be good seed availability for drilling this autumn,” she adds.

Other new Group 3 variety Warrior (RAGT) has already found a place on several farms with its good disease profile, including resistance to OWBM, and good standing ability being the main attractions. “Its good agronomic package may attract growers with land at a distance from the farm, or anyone who grows cereals as a side issue, such as some livestock farmers. It provides flexibility in terms of management.”

She also points out that Warrior, along with Group 4 variety Alchemy, is the only variety to achieve a 7 rating for septoria tritici. “We’ve not had a bad septoria year for a while, and rusts have taken our eye in recent seasons, but the threat from septoria is always there and it’s something we need to remain aware of going forward.”

Of the Group 4 feed wheat additions Beluga (Senova) may well find a place on Suffolk farms because of its high rating in a second wheat situation. “If you look at second wheat yields it is the highest yielder on the List (105) - the same as Ketchum. It is rated as ‘good’ for distilling although limited data suggests the variety may have below average resistance to sprouting.

“It could be an alternative for Oakley as another high input, high output variety, but you have to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of high yellow rust resistance for a very poor brown rust rating (3).”

The uptake of Oakley’s sibling, Group 4 Conqueror (KWS) this autumn will depend on how well yellow rust is managed in Oakley during the season. “Conqueror’s medium rating of 5 for yellow rust will make it an alternative should yellow rust get out of hand.”

Despite many of the key winter wheat varieties currently in the ground showing susceptibility to yellow rust (see Table 1), Ms Self suggests next season’s plantings will be similar to this. However, some growers are becoming increasingly nervous of a yellow rust outbreak which could cause a dip in the area of the more susceptible varieties.

Careful management

The large area of these varieties requires careful disease management, but confident growers may stick with varieties like Oakley as long as the margin over input remain, she believes.

A decline in gross margins has reduced the area of winter barley grown in Suffolk, although malting variety Winsome (Syngenta), may find a place on some farms later this year. “It’s higher yielding (100) than Flagon (99), and has better standing, and early stages of IBD quality tests are showing some good results although it’s still a little early to judge as yet.

“I would want to secure a suitable contract first prior to opting to grow it this autumn.”

KWS-Cassia will be a useful addition for feed growers for the coming season with a yield of 107 (the same as Retriever, the highest yielding 2-row feed barley and it has a better specific weight (71 v 66) and standing power (8 v 6) than Retriever.

“Its disease profile won’t be as good as Retriever’s, which is excellent, and very hard to beat,” she adds.

“Cassia does have a low score for rhynchosporium, but I’m confident growers can manage that.”

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