Robert Mann is a business partner in R and G Mann, which farms over 450 hectares north of the river Blackwater in Essex. Operating a diverse arable rotation, the business has grown through both contract and shared locations.
Having taken a break from growing oilseed rape as part of his rotation, Robert was advised to grow LG Academic to fill a gap in his rotation. His typical rotation consists of wheat, barley, grass, and oilseed rape, with oilseed rape grown once every seven years. When Robert was searching for a variety, he needed strong agronomic traits, particularly pod shatter resistance and Turnip Yellows Virus (TuYV). LG Academic met these requirements, as part of its robust disease resistance package.
Robert has been impressed with the disease resistance and yield of LG Academic
At harvest in July, LG Academic delivered a yield of 4.2t/ha, a result that impressed Robert given the challenging weather throughout the season.
“It was certainly above what I was expecting as conditions have been horrendously dry. As the crop grew, I could see it was the real deal. I believe you can always tell the quality of a crop once you’ve combined it, and the stalks were still green after harvest.”
Following the impressive yield results this season, Robert has no hesitation growing LG Academic again.
“I will certainly grow it again next season alongside a large percentage of hybrids. I was amazed at how well it produced large healthy plants. It delivered exactly as it described; I’m quite nervous when spending money on seed due to the conditions, but we’ve more than made our money on it.”
