Cereal growers advised to assess all options
In making that claim, Lee Robinson, marketing director for plant breeder Limagrain, gave as an example the situation 30 years ago. “In 1981, there were only six fully recommended wheat varieties against 20 in 2011,” he said.
“Also, take into account that back in 1981, 50 per cent of wheat varieties were bred by PBI, whereas today we have varieties from seven breeders and agents on the list, which offers a much wider genetic base.”
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Hide AdHe advised growers to look at the annually-published recommended lists before deciding on which varieties to grow because there was a wealth of information in these tables.
But growers must also take into account their local conditions in making a choice, especially when looking at barley varieties. Robinson’s colleague Mark Glew said: “Geography tends to dictate what market to grow for, with the Scottish region having a distilling focus, most of the east of the UK, brewing, the south for export with the north-west growing predominantly for feed.
“What is important, however, is that whilst yield is king, these ‘additional characteristics’ can and do offer improvements for growers.”
Glew added that consistency, not just in one season but year after year was the key attribute. “Each variety is unique and individual that we have to pull out every bit of detail we can to make sure the variety is placed on farm in the correct situation, producing consistent results not just in terms of yield but also good husbandry attributes and also a product that fulfils the requirement of the end market.”
He claimed that while the recommended lists carried data based over three years, Limagrain had grown the variety in its own trials for five-six years and, therefore, had a deeper knowledge of the variety.
Independent agronomist Nick Wall confirmed that consistency of a variety to deliver was a critical factor in deciding which to use and that this was not just based on yield.