Sown in June or July as a new crop or into cereal stubbles, Carbon will provide an excellent cover by November.

Carbon is also used in the Gamecover mixture Spaniel.

“Spaniel is a mixture of Carbon, Interval rape kale hybrid, mustard and fodder radish,” says Limagrain marketing director Martin Titley. “It brings all the advantages of using a multispecies mix of varieties. It grows very quickly, and is more frost tolerant than mustard sown on its own. This makes it ideal to replace patchy crops that might not have established from a spring sowing.”

Limagrain’s full portfolio of game cover crops is available in its recently published HiBird Gamecover and Environmental Crops 2015 catalogue available by contacting Emily Short on 01472 370117 or emily.short@limagrain.co.uk or by downloading a copy from www.limagrain.co.uk/hibird

Mr Ward has increased the amount of Evolution grown, mostly as a second wheat, from 20ha (50 acres) last season to 100ha (250 acres) for the 2015 harvest and believes the variety’s tallness (88cm without PGR on the HGCA Recommended List) helps outcompete black-grass.

“It’s been a smashing variety,” he says. “Other varieties, such as Reflection, offer a slightly higher yield, but they’re too short for us and will not smother the black-grass as well. We’d probably lose more yield from the extra black-grass competition than we would gain from the variety’s extra yield potential.”

“Good septoria and rust resistance is another major draw of Evolution and makes it ideally suited to the second wheat situation, with Horatio reserved for the first wheat slot”, Mr Ward continues.

“We did see a bit of septoria come in early on, but that was easily cleaned up with chlorothalonil at T0. Evolution has a better disease profile than Horatio, so is better placed as a second wheat and seems to do well for us in that position.”

“The variety’s disease profile has afforded some savings to fungicide programmes, with lower doses used on the Evolution due to rusts not being a problem”, he says. This season’s programme is similar to 2014 (see box below).

“The only issue we have found is that Evolution can be slightly later maturing, but that’s not a problem for us, as we have a neighbour’s milling wheat that needs to be harvested first anyway. In theory, the longer the crop stays green the higher the yield should be.”

Last year’s Evolution yielded 12-14t/ha, which was above the farm’s five-year average of 9t/ha.

Mr Ward says a range of difficult soil types across the farm means early drilling is essential.

“We normally start drilling around 14 September and want to get first wheats in by the end of the month, with all remaining wheat drilled by 10 October at the latest. Beyond that makes it hard to get a decent crop of wheat on this soil.”

Land with the worst black-grass is normally ploughed before drilling with a Kverneland combination drill, while less affected land gets a pass with the Sumo Trio ahead of drilling.

A small area of Mulika spring wheat (sown in the autumn if possible), is also grown on the farm to help with black-grass control and Mr Ward says hybrid barley offers good potential for black-grass control at a lower cost than wheat.

Looking ahead to next season, Mr Ward says he is very tempted to drop Horatio in favour of growing Evolution as both a first and second wheat, using hybrid barley or Mulika (drilled later) on the very worst black-grass fields immediately after ploughing.

Evolution fungicide strategy (2014)

• T0: 1 litre/ha Alto Elite (cyproconazole +chlorothalonil) and 0.75 litre/ha Cycocel (chlormequat) PGR
• T1: 1 litre/ha Treoris (chlorothalonil + penthiopyrad), 0.66 litre/ha Rubric (epoxiconazole), 1 litre/ha Rover (chlorothalonil) and 1.5 litre/ha Cycocel
• T2: 1 litre/ha Pexan (epoxiconazole + fluxapyroxad), 1 litre/ha Gemstone (pyraclostrobin + epoxiconazole), 1 litre/ha Rover
• T3: 0.35 litre/ha Proline (prothioconazole), 0.35 litre/ha tebuconazole, 0.4 litre/ha Tucana (pyraclostrobin), Rover 1 litre/ha

Evolution bred by Sejet and marketed in the UK by Limagrain, was recommended in 2014 as the highest yielding Group 4 hard wheat that also offered a robust disease resistance profile.
These traits were demonstrated fully last season where Evolution performed very well both on farm and in trials.

“Evolution has very good disease ratings for yellow and brown rust on the HGCA’s Recommended List which were upheld this season, and the variety also has decent defence against the other key diseases of septoria, eyespot and mildew,” says Ron Granger, arable technical manager with Limagrain.

“This strong disease resistance gives growers flexibility to adapt their fungicide programmes on farm.”

“It can perform well as a second-wheat, and as with many new high-yielding types, Evolution is later to mature which can be used to spread work, so is a feature rather than a problem,” says Mr Granger.

All three varieties are bred by Betaseed GmBH, the European arm of the most successful sugar beet breeder in the US, for whom Limagrain is the marketing agent in the UK.

Limagrain UK sugar beet consultant Bram van der Have believes that these three varieties provide growers with a choice of top yielding varieties whilst offering a range of agronomic characteristics to suit specific on-farm and market situations.

“During these times when growers are being encouraged to push for the highest yields to dilute costs of production, it is important to choose varieties that will not only produce these top yields but also offer sound agronomics to allow the crop to get off to a good start as 70% of the crop’€™s potential is decided at drilling, so by choosing the right variety and getting drilling conditions right, there’€™s no reason why sugar beet shouldn’€™t remain a mainstay in the cropping programme of many farms in East Anglia.”

Betaseed has designed innovative branding to help growers to identify the right variety for specific farm or market requirements. These symbols will be present on the packaging of the new varieties coming to market for sowing in spring 2016.

• A BAG OF SUGAR represents a variety with TOP YIELD AND HIGH SUGAR CONTENT – to maximise financial returns.
  •  Variety BTS 470
• A WEIGHT represents a variety that offers TOP ROOT YIELD to achieve top financial returns.
  •  Variety BTS 340
• ARMOUR  reflects a variety that is BCN TOLERANT to protect your beet crop against Beet Cyst Nematodes.
  • Variety  BTS 755

2016 VARIETIES

The newly recommended Limagrain offering BTS 470 features top line performance for yield and sugar content offering very high adjusted tonnes yield at 105% of controls, positioning it at the top of the Recommended List in this category. The variety also offers consistently high sugar content,   at 18.2% which puts it as one of the highest in this category on the Recommend List.

BTS 470 is Rhizomania resistant and also offers valuable agronomic characteristics demonstrated by its good establishment producing a good plant population even in challenging situations. The variety is one of the lowest bolters on the RL when sown at normal.

Mr Van der Have adds that the variety has very good resistance for rust and powdery mildew, and will be welcomed by growers looking to spread the spraying workload among more susceptible varieties and those who like to lift later in the season.

“The very high sugar content of BTS 470 is likely to appeal to the sugar processor and a very high adjusted tonnage variety which should make it equally attractive to the professional sugar beet grower,”€ he says.

The second variety to be offered from Limagrain UK which is newly inscribed to the 2016 Recommended List is BTS 340. BTS 340 is a good all-rounder variety offering excellent yield potential and is Rhizomina resistant. “€œAdd to this its solid all- round agronomics and you have a variety that will suit most situations and needs,”€ says Mr van der Have.

As one of the highest yielders on the list, BTS 340 offers a relative adjusted tonnes yield of 103.7%, and a sugar content of 17.92. These yields are backed up by a sound agronomic package; BTS 340 has one of the lowest bolting tendencies when sown at a normal time, however the flexibility of the variety to meet a range of situations is demonstrated by its ability to maintain this lower bolting tendency which allows for it to be sown anytime from reasonably early in March to the end of April.

There are not many situations where BTS340 will not fit, says Mr Van der Have, as he points out that it is also ideal for the early lifting period.

The third newly listed variety offered by Limagrain is BTS 755, which is a very exciting variety for UK sugar beet growers as it is the highest yielding variety on the 2016 BBRO Descriptive List to offer Beet Cyst Nematode tolerance, and combined with its Rhizomania resistance and sound agronomic package is likely to be prized by those with land confirmed with, or suspected of being infected with BCN, with no compromise to performance.

In official trials the variety has demonstrated its ability to produce in fields without BCN infestation yields of relative adjusted tonnes of 103.0% which is equivalent to the top yielders on the 2015 BBRO Recommended List.  “In other words,  growers with a BCN problem no longer have to pay a yield penalty.”

“BTS 755 demonstrates the benefits of a breeding programme that has focussed on developing this resistance without a compromise to yield. We know from data collected in continental Europe that in cases of heavy BCN infestation, that resistant varieties can give yield benefits of up to 30% compared to non BCN resistant varieties and this is what we are seeing with BTS 755.”

This is a high sugar content variety that can be sown with confidence notes Mr van der Have, as it is a fast emerger that produces a high final plant population, with a very erect leaf canopy, BTS 755 can be sown from late-March until late April.  The variety also offers a good yellow rust and powdery mildew resistance rating, so performs agronomically as well as producing an outstanding yield performance.

Six new varieties have been added to the RL, three are from KWS UK Ltd; Sabatina KWS, Salamanca KWS and Tasmania KWS; and three from Limagrain UK Ltd; BTS 340, BTS 470 and BTS 515. The DL has four new Beet Cyst Nematode (BCN) tolerant varieties for 2016: Leesha KWS and Tabatha KWS from KWS UK Ltd; BTS 755 from Limagrain UK Ltd and Aurora from SESVanderHave UK Ltd.

“Whilst the weather is an important determinant of final commercial sugar beet yields each year, these results show that breeders are playing a major role and continue to produce varieties with ever higher yield potential”,€ says Mike May, Chairman of the RL Board. “€œThe yield of the control varieties in 2014 trials was 111 adjusted tonnes / ha and we saw the newer varieties achieving up to a 5% increase over that.”

The four new BCN tolerant varieties added to the DL – Leesha KWS and Tabatha KWS from KWS UK Ltd; BTS 755 from Limagrain UK Ltd and Aurora from SESVanderHave UK Ltd – also show good yield improvements. The yield results are in the absence of BCN and, whilst yields are as good as some of the varieties on the RL, the varieties on the DL should only be used for the particular trait they are listed,€ advises Mike.

The average plant population harvested was 105,000 plants/ha in the RL and 107,000 /ha in the DL.  The recorded bolters for normal sowing (generally from mid March) are low with no statistical difference between the varieties.  The early sown bolter figures should be used by growers intending to sow in early March or if very cold conditions are expected. In these situations Haydn, Pasteur, Stingray and Cayman have a lower bolting risk.

More details can be obtained from the Chairman, Mike May or the individual breeders.

The sugar beet RL and DL

This is a joint venture between BBRO and BSPB and is governed by a Board with equal representation.  Thirteen yield trials are sown each year with the best trials harvested and the results used to determine the RL.  Early sown bolters and disease susceptibility are determined in separate trials that are not taken to yield.  The DL was introduced as a separate section for 2015 sowing and is for varieties with special traits where more than just RL trials data is required.  For 2016 the DL is for enhanced rhizomania resistance (AYPR varieties) and BCN.

Please see below for BBRO Recommended Variety List 2016, click to view image.

The most recent trials, carried out on behalf of Limagrain UK and at the James Hutton Institute in Scotland, show that the modern varieties Gowrie and Lomond gave an extra 18% and 11% dry matter yields respectively than the older variety Ruta Otofte that was used as the control. This can provide an extra tonne of dry matter per hectare.

Growing costs for swedes are estimated at £408 per hectare according to Limagrain’s Essential Guide to Forage Crops, making them one of the most cost effective crops to grow.

“Swedes are an under-estimated crop,” says Limagrain’s fodder crops manager Martin Titley. “They provide an ideal crop for winter grazing programmes and are highly successful for finishing lambs or for winter maintenance on sheep units.

“And these newer varieties, both bred by the James Hutton Institute and both with powdery mildew and club root resistance, re-inforce the value of swedes. Producers can now select varieties that, sown up to the end of June on a wide range of soils, can produce high dry matter yields – to the tune of seven to 10 tonnes per hectare.

The dry matter value of a crop of the recently introduced variety Gowrie, that is an ideal choice for grazing sheep over winter, is  estimated at £1258/ha – significantly higher than the older varieties and certainly worthy of consideration for producers looking for cost-effective and high yielding winter feeds.”

More details on swede varieties and husbandry details are available in Limagrain’s latest Essential Guide to Forage Crops available from Emily Short on 01472 370117 or emily.short@limagrain.co.uk or by downloading a copy from www.lgseeds.co.uk/foragecrops

Nikita is a conventional oilseed rape candidate variety, with a gross output of 110% on the east –west HGCA Recommended List putting it in joint highest position, 10% above DK Cabernet and 12% over Excalibur. Whilst in the north it achieves 114% gross output, making it the second best performing variety.

Nikita offers a glimmer of hope in the battle against Light Leaf Spot as it has a LLS rating of 8, which would make it the highest on the HGCA Recommended List. Dr Vasilis Gegas, senior oilseed rape breeder with Limagrain UK, notes that in years when LLS pressure is high and widely spread, such as in 2015, resistance ratings may come under pressure and therefore there’s a distinct advantage in starting with the highest rating possible.

“Additionally it has the short stiff stems that growers prefer for ease of harvest, and very good lodging resistance. Nikita is also medium to flower and mature.”

Britannia which was fully recommended in 2014,is a high yielding Group 3 biscuit wheat producing yields comparable to the feed wheats. Limagrain’s Ron Granger notes that Britannia, rated 104 across the UK and two points higher than stable-mate Zulu, is the highest yielding variety in the biscuit wheat category. “It sets a bench mark yield that elevates it above the rest of the pack.”

Similar in height to Invicta and JB Diego, the variety is moderately stiff strawed, and is similar in ripening maturity to Scout. Britannia also offers a very good disease resistance profile, with an 8 for yellow rust and a 6 for septoria tritici combined with good grain quality attributes.

Added to the PGRO Recommended List in 2014 as the highest yielding winter bean, Tundra is an exciting new variety with a pale skinned and a pale hilum colour, potentially suitable for the premium export market for human consumption.

Offering a 9% yield advantage over long-time market leader Wizard at 106%, Tundra has good agronomic attributes, being a moderately short strawed variety with good standing ability. Tundra is also relatively early to mature.

Breeders from across the arable portfolio and Limagrain representatives will be on hand to provide information on all Limagrain varieties, such as high yielding wheats; Evolution and Zulu and oilseed rape, Amalie.

LF Papworth Ltd has 400ha of wheat in the ground this season across a total contract farmed area of 1,500ha north of Norwich, including 75ha of Evolution alongside around 20 other wheat varieties.

Seed crops account for 20% of everything grown and provide a good opportunity to see how different varieties perform, Mr Papworth says. “A lot of the wheat we grow is in rotation with sugar beet and potatoes, so conditions can often be quite challenging.

“We’€™re contract farmers so strive for yield and the biggest issue influencing that is soil. A lot of the land we farm is light sandy loam, which is good for potatoes and root crops, but not so good for wheat, so we take extra care to select varieties that suit individual situations.

“We aim for wheats to achieve 10t/ha, but it can be quite variable depending on the weather and previous cropping, especially where it’€™s going in late after potatoes or sugar beet,”€ he says.

“Last year was the second time we’€™ve grown Evolution and it did at least 10t/ha. This year crops are a bit behind normal in terms of growth, but look pretty clean, so will hopefully do well.”

Mr Papworth values the yield potential and strong disease profile of Evolution [rated 9 for yellow rust, 8 brown rust and 6 for septoria] and believes this is an aspect that will become increasingly important as regulatory pressure reduces the amount of chemistry available to growers.

“€œI’€™m absolutely convinced that with the increasing difficulty of getting products registered the answer to disease control is increasingly not in a can. We are all going to have to better utilise all methods available alongside chemical control. Natural plant resistance is a big part of that, together with rotation and other cultural control.”

Mr Papworth tailors wheat fungicides to individual varieties and disease pressure, but generally favours a strong protectant four-spray approach based around chlorothalonil at T0, followed by an SDHI at both T1 and T2 and a T3 ear wash.

Cultivation strategy varies depending on the preceding crop, with minimum tillage favoured where possible. In some cases, such as after sugar beet or potatoes he may opt for a Sumo Trio, or even returns to the plough depending on conditions.

Around 210-220kg nitrogen/ha is typically applied to wheats, split three ways between an early 70kg N/ha plus sulphur in late February/ early March, followed by two more equal doses three to four weeks apart. “Exact rate does depend on the crop potential, what’€™s already in the soil and weather”, he notes.

“We made 220 round bales of silage from 25 acres which is very good for this field – it was a bulky crop of grass. And our nutritionist ‘sampled’ the grass by tasting it, describing it as especially ‘sugary’. We will be very pleased if the analysis reflects these initial impressions.”

Richard and Adam Horsington run a 130 Holstein Friesian cow herd on a summer grazing and winter housed system and feed a total mixed ration incorporating high quality grass silage.

LGAN  – Limagrain Genetics Animal Nutrition are grass seed mixtures from Limagrain specially formulated for enhanced nutrition as well as good agronomic characteristics.

Trials carried out at the independent Schothorst Feed Research Institute in The Netherlands compared a Limagrain LGAN dual purpose tetraploid grass seed mixture with a good quality conventional grass mixture fed in a ration with maize, soyabean and rapeseed meal and ground wheat.

Results showed that cows fed on the LGAN grass silage averaged 1.4 litres a day more than cows fed silage based on the conventional grass seed mixture. The digestibility and energy value of the diet improved by 3% and there was a 5% improvement in overall feed efficiency.

Limagrain has published Grass Seed Mixtures for superior animal nutrition. Copies are available from Emily Short on 01472 370117 or Emily.short@limagrain.co.uk or click here to download it now.

Presenting the results from a nationwide survey at Cereals, Dr John Walsh of Warwick University who headed up the research on behalf of breeders Limagrain UK, warned that levels of TuYV infection are as high as he has ever seen. “€œResults from across the country are showing worryingly high levels of infection with some hotspots of infection showing levels as high as 72% infection!”

“€œGenerally, these hotspots are where you would expect due to the large areas of oilseed rape grown, however the levels of infection are much higher than they have been for the last few seasons with Yorkshire and East Anglia at around 72% infection, and some surprises such as 64% infection in Somerset.”

Alan Dewar, of Dewar Crop Protection, believes that these high incidences have come about as a result of the high numbers of aphids flying last autumn. “€œLast autumn many oilseed rape crops were drilled early, it was also the first autumn without neonicotinoid seed treatments and whilst there are insecticides available there are some issues around timing and duration of control as well as developing resistance to pyrethroids and primicarb which can severely impede fully effective control.”

The timing of infection of TuYV from aphids has a significant influence on the levels of infection and subsequent yield – studies from the University of Warwick has confirmed that the earlier the infection the greater the yield loss. “€œSo this year we could be looking at some fairly significant yield losses,” says Dr Vasilis Gegas, senior oilseed rape breeder with Limagrain. 

“€œHowever, the difficulty with TuYV is that it is difficult to identify and often yield losses will be attributed to other factors. However in trials with high levels of virus, resistant varieties could out yield non-resistant varieties by 10-15%, demonstrating the value of resistance in protecting yield.

Looking ahead to next autumn and what this means for the oilseed rape crop, Mr Dewar urges growers to strongly consider the role that varietal resistance can play. “€œThe most exciting news for OSR growers this autumn is that the variety Amalie has proven itself to be completely resistant to TuYV and I am confident with this claim having had some testing done myself,”€ he says.

“€œI visited a farm in Debenham, Suffolk and was shown a field of Amalie which the farmer felt was not showing any symptoms of TuYV in comparison to a neighboring field of a non-resistant variety, so I sent 10 leaves of both the Amalie and also the leaves from the non-resistant variety to Rothamsted for ELISA testing – the results confirmed that there susceptible OSR variety had 70% infection but there was no virus whatsoever in the Amalie!”

“It’€™s not often in this industry that you get good news like this and it’s very important that growers pay attention to these findings and make use of the varietal resistance that is available.”

“€œThis means that variety choice will be even more critical than ever and will require a change in mind set where resistance and agronomics play an increasingly crucial role in order to protect yield,” he says.

Amalie remains the only commercially available oilseed rape variety with resistance to TuYV on the market, and the variety was re-submitted as a candidate in the 2014-2015 HGCA RL trials based on this trait. Amalie is a conventional OSR variety that offers a gross output similar to the widely grown variety, DK Cabernet. Amalie can yield up to around 10% more than non-resistant varieties in the presence of TuYV infections.

Agronomically the variety offers sound agronomics and robust disease resistance ratings, with a 7 for LLS and 8 for phoma, so with no obvious weaknesses there is a serious case for growers to consider making it part of their OSR cropping this season.

Amalie: Yield, agronomy and disease resistance

“€œFarmers can take full benefit of ‘€˜added value’€™ cover and catch crops after harvest to maximise the benefit to their soils”, says Limagrain’s Martin Titley. “Soil is one of the most valued assets and it is important for growers to make good cropping choices that will help to improve its properties.”

The new publication highlights the advantages of specific crops and mixtures that will improve soil structure, weed suppression, nematode control and fertiliser use. It also offers a guide to the choice of crops in each category and to their husbandry.

Also included is Limagrain’€™s new range of crop mixtures that meet the Government’s new greening rules for ecological focus areas – EFAs.

“We have designed these mixtures very carefully to offer advantages over and above simply meeting the Government’s new greening rules,”€ adds Mr Titley.

He refers to both the catch and cover crop rules which will also help blackgrass control, and lift and hold nitrogen to prevent leaching over winter.

Included are three unique mixtures that can be used for EFA catch or cover crops.

The first, Sprinter, is a mixture of Black Oat Silke and Vetch and is an ideal catch crop, due to its especially fast establishment. “€œThis is especially fast to establish so it is ideal for drilling early, making it a good catch crop option where establishment must be by August 31 each year and retained until at least until October 1,” says Mr Titley. €œAnd it is an especially good weed suppressant mixture that can help reduce blackgrass levels.

The second Limagrain EFA catch and cover crop mixture, Lift n Fix, also contains Vetch along with the winter rye Humbolt. “We’ve developed this mixture for those looking for a winter hardy cover crop with effective nitrogen lifting ability€“ Humbolt is one of the best crops available for lifting and holding nitrogen.”€ Cover crops can be established by 1 October but must be retained until at least January 15.

With soil organic content being high on the agenda for many farmers, we have developed Soil Improver. This mixture has a high proportion of winter oats, lucerne, mustard and phacelia which gives a crop with a root structure for different soil profiles and retains moisture that can be used by the following crop.

Sowing details for the new range of Limagrain EFA catch and cover crops, along with fallow land, buffer strip and undersowing options, are included in Limagrain’s Soil Improvement Solutions brochure available from Emily Short on 01472 370117.

Founded in 1862, Clifton College in Bristol, Somerset is steeped in history. During the Second World War, the college became an operations base for the US Army and it was here that intelligence officers intercepted German radio messages and put the plans in place for D-Day.

Since the end of the war, Clifton College has blossomed into one of the UK’€™s leading independent public boarding schools with an excellent reputation for sport. The college has state of the art facilities and boasts two sports fields; a 60 hectare site two miles from the school and a 6 hectare site situated within the school’€™s grounds which plays host to a number of different sports.

Andy Matthews has been at Clifton for four years after joining from Harrow School where he held the same position. He manages both the grounds and gardens team which consists of three gardeners, six groundsmen, a mechanic and a handyman. A school of Clifton’€™s status has extremely high standards to adhere to and it is for this reason that Andy and his team insist on using only the finest turf products.

“€œI have been using Limagrain’€™s Action Replay on all of my dual surfaces at the college where rugby, football and cricket are played and I also use MM50 on my cricket squares. I have been very pleased with the rapid establishment of the seed and its development. The Action Replay mixture provides excellent value for money and good strong surfaces,”€ he said.

Action Replay is a product of Limagrain’s Designer range of amenity grass seed mixtures. It is renowned for extremely fast germination rapidly producing a dense hard wearing sward.

Andy uses MM50 which is a fine leaved ryegrass mix. It has fast establishment and quick recovery after play on his cricket squares which along with its high wear tolerance and excellent all round turf quality makes it an ideal mix for cricket.

Both the MM50 and Action Replay mixtures have the added bonus of being treated with HEADSTART® GOLD. This user friendly, non-toxic treatment can help grass get off to a great start and is perfect for enhancing performance on grass seed coatings for sports fields, golf courses, lawns and amenity turf.

As well as lavishing praise on Limagrain’s products, Andy was also keen to point out that he receives excellent customer service from the company.

“€œI have really enjoyed working with Matt Gresty (Amenity Manager for Limagrain UK) who has been very useful in helping me with seed selection. I would certainly recommend Limagrain products to others looking for similar solutions,”€ he said.

You can download your copy of the 2015 MM brochure by clicking here, or to get a hard copy, email enquiries@limagrain.co.uk

Mr Daubney’s appointment follows the move of the previous Arable Marketing Director, Lee Robinson to Managing Director for the whole business.

Mr Daubney who has worked for Limagrain UK, part of Group Limagrain, the largest plant breeder and seed development company in the UK and Europe, since 2006 has held a range of responsibilities throughout the marketing team and therefore has first-hand experience of the many different requirements of a very busy department that services both seed trade and farmer clients year round.

“This is a really exciting time for plant breeding as genetics become increasingly important on farm, and as a company owned by farmers our focus is to continue to develop varieties that meet the needs of growers and industry. It is crucial that we are able to support all those involved in the seed business from merchants to growers to get the very best out of the products that we are bringing to the market place and this is an area that I will continue to lead and progress.”

Les Daubney, Limagrain UK’s new Arable Marketing Director