Bolting resistance is key for sugar beet grower, Andy Cooper of North Norfolk and last campaign he turned to Betaseed’s BTS 3325, for early drilling.

Managing 730ha of tenanted land on the Sandringham Estate, north east of Kings Lynn, Mr Cooper typically grows three varieties across his 160ha beet area in early, mid and late-drilled slots. Strube variety, Haydn has taken the early slot into the farm’s sandy loams over chalk in recent seasons, with the variety having the lowest bolter numbers on the BBRO Recommended List when sown on or before 5th March.

However, Mr Cooper replaced Haydn with BTS 3325 for the 2018-19 campaign as it offered suitability for early drilling, plus higher yield and improved disease resistance. In 2018, the farm received half of its annual rainfall between January and March, so drilling was delayed until April and its bolting resistance was not tested, after conditions quickly turned hot and dry post-drilling.

Andy Cooper, Norfolk Farmer

However, Mr Cooper was pleased with the performance of the variety in its first year, despite the delayed establishment, giving an adjusted yield of 80t/ha from a late-November lift.

High-yielding sugar beet variety finds favour in Lincs

Lincolnshire sugar beet grower, Charles Roe has opted for variety BTS 1140 this year, lured by the potential for 7% higher yield over two of last year’s picks. Overseeing 243ha near Horncastle with his father, John, Mr Roe has grown sugar beet for many years on the farm’s mostly sandy clay loams but took a break for a decade, due to increasing levels of weed beet.

Charles Roe, Lincolnshire Farmer

The crop returned to the rotation for the 2018-19 campaign and he opted to split his 30ha area between three varieties; Betaseed’s BTS 3325, Haydn and Firefly. With individual varieties outclassed relatively quickly as the remarkable improvement in sugar beet yield potential continues, the farm opted to revise its variety line-up this year. Mr Roe believes yield is king when selecting a sugar beet variety and at 104.9% of mean adjusted tonnes, BTS 1140 offers a massive 7% increase over BBRO Recommended List control varieties; Haydn and Firefly, which it has now replaced. “When you are looking at Recommended Lists, I can’t get excited about one or two per cent, but anything over 5%, I see as significant and that’s why we went with BTS 1140 this year,” he explains.

Limagrain UK 2020 UK beet crop varieties

BTS 3325
Has good early sown bolting tolerance, outyielding many of the traditional varieties in this early drilling slot. It has a very high sugar content and good overall disease resistance.

BTS 1140
Offers a significant yield advantage over many varieties on the new BBRO Recommended List. It offers a high sugar content, combined with good foliar disease tolerance.

BTS 4100
Joins the 2020 BBRO Recommended List with the highest sugar content of any sugar beet variety. It has high yields and low bolting counts at early sowing.

“We have grown beans since 2010, and have alternated between springs and winters depending on the rotation. However, with the opportunity to grow for Frontier’s processing plant which is fairly local, it made sense to opt back into spring beans.”

“As an alternative break crop, they have a valuable place in the rotation and if you get beans right, they can be a profitable crop, as they don’t really require high inputs.”

Mr Atkin has chosen to grow the variety; LG Cartouche, as it offers the highest protein content available on the spring bean PGRO Recommended List 2019, sitting 1.3% ahead of any other pale hilum variety at  29.1%.

“To meet the 29% protein target needed by Frontier, it made sense to start at the highest genetic protein base level.” LG Cartouche is also high yielding with very good standing ability and is early to mature. It’s a pale hilum bean, that’s also suitable for the premium human consumption market. “Rob will be following our bespoke agronomy advice, using dedicated yield and protein boosting products to ensure the crop
fulfils this potential,” explains Richard Plant, Frontier agronomist.

“Initial results from trials indicate that some of the new bio-stimulants have a positive effect on yield and protein. When used early in the growing crop, they have improved rooting and nutrient utilisation which  helps in pushing for that extra quality.”

“LG Cartouche responds particularly well to this, with its higher base level protein content.” Mr Plant points out that should the beans reach human consumption quality, there is still an option to trade them for the more lucrative human consumption market.

Growing beans for a protein premium

Frontier is offering an attractive price of £40/tonne* for beans above November wheat futures, with an additional £10/t premium for growers who opt for Frontier’s specialist bean agronomy package and achieve the required 29% protein targets.

This comes about with the opening of a new de-hulling plant near Nottingham in July of this year, where beans are processed to produce a protein-rich binding agent that’s attractive to the fish farming industry.

* Contract premium correct as of 18th February 2019. Premiums can go up or down depending on market movement.

“Delayed or late drilling of winter wheat, considered to occur from mid-October onwards, is common practice on farms today. However, as autumn progresses and soils inevitably become cooler and wetter, it is important to make a distinction by choosing varieties that will cope well rather than be challenged by the situation,” he says.

“Get it wrong, and you could be facing fairly substantial yield penalties – but this is all totally avoidable.”

“Crops drilled later will not be in the ground as long as those drilled earlier in the autumn, so the chosen variety needs to establish well and once growing conditions are favourable in the spring, needs to be quick off the blocks.”

Characteristics of wheats that suit the late drilling slot are strong tillering and vigorous, combined with good rooting attributes, and a semi prostrate growth habit in the winter, describes Mr Granger.

“This is especially important where black-grass is present, as you need a variety that will compete with its rapid growth rather than sit and tiller flat to the ground where it may eventually become smothered by the black-grass.”

“The theory is not complicated, and this is why certain varieties like LG Skyscraper suit the black-grass situation.”

Limagrain carries out trials looking at which varieties better suit the later-drilled slot. “This is valuable information for growers, especially when also considering limited AHDB data sets.”

In Limagrain’s 2019 trials, LG Skyscraper, which is the highest yielder on the 2019/20 AHDB Recommended List, outperforming everything else this summer, is the highest performing variety in the late drilled slot. In fact, the variety has shown itself to take this poll position over three very different seasons, points out Mr Granger.

“LG Skyscraper ticks a lot of boxes for on-farm performance and is an excellent choice for the second wheat situation.”
Ron’s advice is where a grower wants to put in a quality wheat after roots, which is not an uncommon approach especially for quality wheat growers, Group 2’s LG Detroit is a good option.

“The significant thing about LG Detroit is that it is stiff strawed and comes with orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM) resistance. The added value characters of high inherent protein content, from its parent Crusoe, and good fusarium resistance are also valuable assets for a quality wheat.”

“However, with the variety’s high vernalisation requirement, growers need to be aware that it should be drilled before the end of January.”

“Our agronomy work suggests that LG Detroit benefits from a higher seed rate if sown later in the season, as the variety does tend to drop tillers in the spring if in a stress situation, e.g. drought scenario.”

LG Spotlight also demonstrates attributes for the late drilling scenario, with good tillering and quicker speed of development in the spring, and again in trials has shown itself to be competitive for yield against well established commercial varieties grown in this situation, Mr Granger adds.

“The key attribute of LG Spotlight is its “security of grain quality” – that is a high stable Hagberg with a good specific weight that does not deteriorate when harvest is difficult, as seen in this season.”

Mr Granger highlights data from several seasons of work from Limagrain, that suggests that taller wheats, such as LG Skyscraper, are at an advantage in the later drilling scenario, because larger plant canopies also play an important role in keeping black-grass ear numbers and seed return to the minimum.

“In a black-grass or second wheat situation, LG Skyscraper would be my first choice variety over LG Spotlight or LG Detroit – it just appears to have a bit more vigour and resilience in these circumstances.”

SEED RATES

Mr Granger points out that one of the single most important factors in getting a late drilled crop off to a good start is to use the correct seed rate.

“Seed rates after the end of October are difficult to quantify specifically, as they will be more determined by the seasonal weather and seedbed preparation, at the time of drilling.”

“Generally, seed rates should be increased the further drilling moves towards the winter months, to compensate for the impact on tillering, as a result of cooler temperatures and shorter days.”

“In good conditions in early November, the target should be a seed rate of 375-400 seeds/m2, increasing to 400-475 seeds/m2 at later drill dates, or in a black-grass or poor seedbed situation.”

“Growers should also choose varieties with a good disease resistance profile – certainly against mildew, as this can be problematic on some soil types in the late drilled situation.”

Back in the spring, Limagrain UK’s arable technical manager Ron Granger challenged the perception that hard feed wheats have higher yields and quality over soft wheats.

How right he was to make this challenge; this year’s AHDB harvest results* confirm that soft wheats; LG Skyscraper and LG Spotlight sit at the very top of the yield table, whilst holding onto their quality attributes.

LG Skyscraper is the highest yielding wheat at 105% of control, ahead of the highest yielding recommended hard wheat varieties RGT Gravity (103%) and Gleam (104%). LG Spotlight sits amongst these at 103%.

LG Spotlight’s impressive grain quality credentials remain intact despite the challenging weather towards the latter end of the season. Its specific weight of 76.7 kg/hl is higher than that of Gleam (75.4) and RGT Gravity (75.0). LG Spotlight’s HFN approaching 275, remains the highest on the list.

“It’s important to note that this combination of quality credentials, as found in LG Spotlight, is rarely seen in a soft wheat,” says Ron Granger, arable technical manager for Limagrain UK.

“The stop-start 2019 harvest proves the robustness of these characteristics; the value of this high Hagberg, combined with the high level of sprouting resistance provides security when wet weather delays harvest – and is normally only seen in some top bread varieties,” he points out.

“LG Skyscraper offers a large grain and its specific weight of 76.2 kg/hl and HFN coming in at 212.8 , continue to make to an attractive package when compared to other feed varieties.”

“We are also seeing these excellent harvest results using farm standard inputs, which is an important message as growers can feel confident in their ability to produce these levels of results within more realistic input systems,” adds Mr Granger.

In a Limagrain farm trial near Perth in Scotland, which was based around farm standard inputs, the soft wheats took the top yields; LG Spotlight was the best yielder at 10.4 t/ha, LG Skyscraper sat just behind at 10.3t/ha, whereas the hard wheats; Gleam and RGT Gravity were behind this at 9.7t/ha respectively.

For Russ McKenzie of John Sheard Farms, LG Skyscraper was one of the top yielding wheats across the different units that make up the 995ha’s that he farms on the Northants and Cambridgeshire border.

“Our best yields were 12.09t/ha and the variety was pretty consistent across all of our units. LG Skyscraper has shown itself to be a competitive variety, very vigorous in the autumn which suits our later October plantings. The variety will be one of our core varieties this autumn and we will be growing it over a larger area,” says Mr McKenzie.

“These excellent results from across the country are a result of the robustness of the disease ratings and agronomics supporting the varieties,” explains Mr Granger.

“Whilst there was significant pressure from septoria and yellow rust, both LG Skyscraper and LG Spotlight have managed to withstand this pressure, which can be seen from the differences in treated and untreated ratings.”

He points out that whilst both varieties are tall, they respond well to good PGR programmes based around split timings and the additional use of terpal or cerone, if required at a later date.

“It’s important that varieties show consistency in performance over seasons, and the season of 2019 has certainly proved that Limagrain’s soft wheats are not just varieties that perform well in dry seasons, as we had in 2017 and 2018.”

“If you are growing feed wheat for high yield potential with good grain quality, then the soft wheats LG Skyscraper and LG Spotlight certainly offer attributes better than, or equal to the best hard feed wheats.”

* Data Source: AHDB provisional results 2019 as at 11/09/19

This spring saw malting barley; LG Diablo, receive Full Approval for malt distilling use by the Malting Barley Committee, and it has also been moved to Provisional Approval 2 for brewing. This makes LG Diablo the highest yielding spring barley variety on the AHDB Recommended List with Full Approval for malt distilling.

“Based on its move to Provisional Approval 2 for brewing, if Full Approval for brewing is also obtained next year, LG Diablo will be the highest yielding dual-use spring barley”, says Matt Shand, National Sales Manager for Limagrain UK.

LG Diablo’s UK yield sits 2% above the current market favourites, at 105% of control. Last year, LG Diablo outperformed other leading varieties such as; RGT Planet and Laureate, by a significant amount, in the key malting barley growing areas across the east (106%) and north (107%) regions, in fungicide treated trials.

LG Diablo’s untreated yields also sit at the top of the yield table, alongside Laureate at 94% of control, and 1% over that of RGT Planet, demonstrating the variety’s very robust disease resistance profile.

“In terms of agronomic package, LG Diablo has straw characteristics similar to RGT Planet, and is medium in height (73cm) with good lodging and brackling resistance. Although rated slightly later maturing, this would not appear to have an effect on its high yield potential, as seen in the very testing season of 2018.”

LG Diablo has a very good specific weight, which is important in the malting industry, as malting is a volume-based process and low specific weights can cause reduced throughput in the processing plants.

“So growers with low specific weight parcels will incur penalties if specifications are not met, particularly in times of overproduction.”

“Its hot water extract is a similar level to that of Concerto – a trait that helped Concerto to become a benchmark variety.

“A high hot water extract is heavily desired by the end user, in order for them to achieve higher sugar extraction rates from the malt and create more alcohol – and LG Diablo offers this.”

Paul Huntley, Seed Grain Director at Simpsons Malt Ltd, based in Berwick-upon-Tweed, is excited about the performance of LG Diablo to date, and believes that it will have a significant impact on the malting barley marketplace. “For the three years that we have had the variety in testing, it has performed very well. Even in this summer’s challenging conditions, it has stood well when some other varieties
have gone over.”

“In our macro-scale trialling last year, LG Diablo malted well and distilling customers were very happy with its performance, which led to its Full Approval for malt distilling”

“From a Scottish malting barley perspective, it’s always good to have a new variety on the block, broadening choice and reducing the reliance on a single dominant variety, as we have seen with Concerto and latterly Laureate.”

Seven years later and Crusoe has had one of its best performing seasons sitting at the top of the AHDB Recommended List 2019 harvest results *for fully recommended Group 1’s with a yield of 11.49t/ha at 99% over control, 3% over Skyfall at 11.11t/ha and 1% over KWS Zyatt on 11.31 t/ha.

“This really shows how robust Crusoe is in a high disease pressure, challenging year,“ says Ron Granger, arable technical manager with Limagrain UK.

Crusoe’s protein results compliment those of its yields; 13% protein sees it at the top of the Group 1’s, once again above that of fellow group 1’s, Skyfall (12.6%) and KWS Zyatt (12.7%)

“With no issues around any of its physical qualities, Crusoe has become universally accepted by its growers and the millers as being a solid Group 1 which also meets export specifications, and this year’s harvest results confirm its position as one of the most consistently performing Group 1 varieties.

“Crusoe has stood out over a wide range different seasons and challenges because of its robust and consistent disease resistance, good standing ability and agronomics. “Septoria and yellow rust are by far the biggest threats in any season and Crusoe continues to show good resistance to both,” he says.

He acknowledges its inherent weakness to brown rust (Crusoe’s RL rating dropped from 6 to 4 on the 2015/16 list), but says this is relatively easy to control providing growers are observant and act early if pressure is high.

“Medium maturity helps with an orderly harvest especially for larger growers, and this has helped with this year’s stop-start harvest. Crusoe’s bright green colouration is retained longer than most other varieties mainly due to excellent resistance to mildew, yellow rust and Septoria tritici.”

“Feedback from the field has sometimes alluded to the fact that the variety can be difficult to thrash out due to its tight glumes, but when the weather causes serious delays, such as this year, this characteristic ensures both yield and quality do not deteriorate, when other varieties have suffered.”

Success on farm
Crusoe was one of the top yielding milling wheats on Nocton Farm, part of Beeswax Dyson Farming, where it yielded 11.46t/ha, with a protein content of 14.16% .

Agronomist Ben Abell was very pleased with the results in what has been an unpredictable season.

“We have grown Crusoe since 2012 and put about 600ha of Crusoe into the ground every year, 100ha of this is grown for seed, the rest for milling which we sell onto various merchants.”

“This particular 55 hectare field was drilled on 6th November at a seed rate of 400seeds/m2, and established well. We always drill Crusoe behind vining peas as the residual nitrogen helps the Crusoe achieve protein specification. That said, the crop received 195kgs N in total, which also included 40kgs of Nufol as a late protein spray.”

Inputs are always tailored to the season, he adds. “This year we had a dry spring so fungicide inputs were lower than normal. We do keep an eye on brown rust as this is a weakness of the variety, and tailor our programme accordingly, so it’s not an issue.”

“The crop was harvested on 2nd September, and this has been its best performance in the seven years we have grown it. However, year on year Crusoe is always a consistently good yielder.”

*(Provisional results 11/09/19)

Key facts to help you get the best out of Crusoe

Crusoe’s key attributes of short stiff straw with good disease resistance for yellow rust and septoria and its inherent high protein content continue to make it a strong Group 1 milling wheat choice.

For those planning to drill Crusoe this coming season there are some key facts that will help to get the best out of the variety:

• Crusoe suits heavy or medium soils
• Crusoe’s optimum sowing window is from the last week of September through to end of November – Crusoe has a medium tillering capacity and trials work does suggest that seed rates should be increased significantly when drilling end of October onwards (Target 400 seeds/m2)
• Crusoe is rated medium for plant development in the spring
• Crusoe performs well as a second wheat
• Be vigilant regarding brown rust in the growing crop and treat accordingly if conditions persist.

A crop of LG Stallion blue peas has yielded a record 7.48 t/ha at 15.04% moisture. The last world record set back in 2017 was also held a crop of LG Stallion which yielded 6.47 t/ha at an average of 15.35% moisture.

Harvested on Saturday 7th September at Worlaby Farm in Lincolnshire, grower Tim Lamyman is delighted with both the yields and quality to come off this year’s pea crop.

“Who would have thought that 2019 would be the year for a world record crop!” he says. “I am absolutely thrilled with the final performance of the peas as they have shown a consistency in biomass through the season – much more so than last year. In places the crop was 6ft tall – and this has obviously translated into yield.”

LG Stallion was the field pea variety of choice, selected for its high yield potential and good standing ability. This is the third year that Mr Lamyman has grown the variety, breaking the world record yield in 2017, and having success again with the variety in the very difficult season of 2018 when it yielded 5.6 t/ha at 14.76% moisture.

The peas follow a second wheat in the seven year rotation which also includes wheats, spring barley and oilseed rape. “The field chosen for the crop is much like last year; a grade 2 chalky loam which offers the potential for well-structured root systems, enabling easier nutrient uptake – which I believe is key to a high yielding crop,” says Mr Lamyman.

“As the spring was so dry, we adapted our cultivations for the peas through an intensive min-till approach which allowed us to create a more level seedbed.”

Before drilling, the field had two passes with a Lemken Terradisc and finished with a Vaderstad carrier (discs and crumble roller), and then it was rolled with Cambridge rollers the day after drilling.

The crop was drilled on 9th April using a Vaderstad Rapid, with the coulters set at a 4-inch row width. The seed was treated with Wakil XL + GPA, with the aim of early downy mildew control from the Wakil XL and better root development, as well as plant establishment with the phosphite-based nutrient GPA.

Established plant populations were 85 plants/m2, he says.

Mr Lamyman believes that detailed and well-targeted crop nutrition is critical to his success. “Leaf samples were taken at four different stages through the crop’s growth cycle in order to identify nutrient deficiencies, to which the relevant products were then applied as required.”

“Foliar applications were similar to those used in 2018. An early insecticide (50 ml Hallmark) was applied for weevil damage. Just before flowering, 2 l/ha of ToPPit +1 l/ha of Rainbow Wave went on.”

ToPPit is a 0-30-40 liquid fertiliser containing phosphorus, potassium and a range of micro-elements. Rainbow Wave contains boron and molybdenum.

“In 2017 we had virus in the crop, and given the high aphid numbers this year we applied Aphox early.”

“At flowering, the tank mix consisted of 280 g/ha Aphox, 1 l/ha X-Stress, 2 l/ha ToPPit, 0.5 kg/ha Signum and 0.5 l/ha CalFlux.”

The X-Stress is used to prevent a plant shutting down its stomatal and root absorption processes under stressful conditions. It does this by enhancing photosynthesis and growth by providing essential micro elements, including the correct proportions of iron, zinc, manganese and copper, as well as magnesium and glycine.

“Two weeks later, another spray containing 2 l/ha ToPPit, 0.5 l/ha CalFlux, 1 l/ha X-Stress, as well as 50 ml/ha Hallmark went on.”

“CalFlux is a key component in any record attempt, such as when the plant experiences stress,” explains Tim. “It will draw calcium from the flowering nodes and this can lead to pods and flowers aborting, and this is exactly what happened in the dry spring.”

“As harvest approached and the weather was very changeable, we decided to apply some Reglone on 23rd August, in case of a delay to harvest, and that helped.”

We are delighted to hear of such a high yield from the pea crop, says Chris Guest – Head of Seed for ADM Agriculture.

Achieving more stable yields with the pea crop is something that we see as highly important for the long term future of the combinable pea crop within the UK farm rotation, he says.

“Over the last two years, we have seen the benefit of micro-nutrients in peas – an important consideration for anybody planning the farm rotation based on a long-term view. We see some of the highest first wheat yields following peas – and as such, the two year gross margin is something that is important to consider.”

“Last year, Tim focussed on achieving the highest yields whilst still maintaining the full green colour which is so important for top grade human consumption quality. However, this year he has pushed for out and out yield,” he says.

“Looking at how this would translate in terms of gross margin based on a worst case scenario of feed quality with current values of circa £180/mt ex farm – this would equate to a gross margin of £915/ha (which includes the additional spend by Tim on the Bionature package).”

“However, if these were suitable for a low grade HC market – this gross margin would increase to £1401/ha (which again includes the Bionature package costs) with a market value of circa £235-240.”

“It’s worth noting that this is the highest gross margin achievable for any crop this season!” says Mr Guest.

In its first year on the BSPB/NIAB Descriptive Lists, Prospect is the first choice variety on both the Less Favourable and Favourable lists delivering exceptional performance across all the major attributes.

“Prospect represents the Holy Grail of maize breeding being the first early variety to produce such high feed quality, making it the perfect variety for farmers across the country wanting to maximise the return on investment in maize” comments Tim Richmond, LG Seeds maize manager in the UK and Ireland. “It delivers fantastic agronomy and tremendous yields with the combination of high starch and outstanding cell wall digestibility to make full use of the total energy available in the plant.”

He explains that Cell wall digestibility (CWD) is a measure of the extent to which animals are able to digest plant fibre. The higher the CWD, the better the potential feed value of the plant. The part of the cell walls that give the plant structural strength that prevents it from collapsing is lignin which is indigestible and produced in greater quantities as the plant matures. As lignin content increases, CWD declines.

“As a consequence many very early varieties do not have particularly high CWD values, but with Prospect our breeders have managed to neutralize the impact of increasing lignin as the plant matures, enabling it to maintain exceptionally high CWD.

“It provides the high quality forage farmers require and plenty of it. It produces 13000MJ/ha more than the average variety on the Less Favourable sites list which equates to an additional 2360 litres of milk per hectare from forage, worth around £680 per hectare.”

Prospect is an early variety with maturity class 9 (or FAO 160) meaning it is suitable for all maize growing sites. It combines excellent early vigour and good standing power with good eyespot tolerance and fusarium resistance meaning it will deliver in the field. But the difference will really be seen in the clamp and in the feed trough.

It is the top variety on the Less Favourable site list for dry matter yield, cell wall digestibility, starch yield, ME content and ME yield. On Favourable sites it is the highest ranked early variety, topping the list for cell wall digestibility, ME content and ME yield.

“Some later varieties may aspire to match Prospect on quality, but they have limited appeal. In many parts of the country there are simply not enough heat units available to allow these later varieties to reach maturity meaning they will fail to deliver fully on feed quality. With the environmental and agronomic drivers for early varieties, Prospect will allow growers across the country to have their cake and eat it, producing high yields and quality combined with early maturity.”

To download a copy of our New Maize Variety Selection Guide 2020, please click here, or on the image below…

Annual monitoring of Turnip Yellows Virus (TuYV) infection in the UK’s oilseed rape crop has shown that 84% of non-TuYV resistant crops were infected in early spring 2019 – the highest level ever recorded.

However despite this, TuYV resistant varieties; Aspire, Aurelia and Ambassador, have recorded some of the highest yields in independent trials.

Turnip Yellows Virus (TuYV) is spread by the peach potato aphid (Myzus persicae), and can impact yields by as much as 30% in highly infected situations, oil content by 3%, whilst increasing levels of glucosinolates and erucic acid.

Since 2016, Limagrain UK along with industry partners; Agrii, Openfield and the AICC, have been monitoring levels of TuYV in crops across the UK. Leaf samples are taken both in the spring and autumn and tested using the Elisa standard test.

“Results from this spring’s sampling confirm that almost all sites had an infection rate between 81-100%.”

“Many of these sites are in regions where you would expect infection levels to be high, such as in East Anglia and the south-east, however what is noticeable is that we are now seeing sites in Scotland and the south-west with these very high levels of infection,” says Dr Vasilis Gegas, Limagrain’s OSR European Portfolio Manager.

“Three years ago we would not have seen these levels in the west, which just goes to show how TuYV is becoming increasingly widespread, and is now endemic in the UK OSR crop, irrespective of region.”

Harvest results confirm value of TuYV resistance

Harvest results just in from trials conducted by the Association of Independent Crop Consultants (AICC) in West Wittering, show that there was around a 0.4-0.5t/ha yield advantage from varieties with TuYV resistance against those with none.

“Limagrain’s conventional variety; Aspire, performed very well – as did AHDB Candidates; Aurelia and Ambassador.”

“In this particular trial, Aspire yielded 6.7t/ha; that’s a massive yield bonus over the 6t/ha from the non-TuYV resistant variety; Campus. Candidate, Aurelia was just behind, yielding 6.4t/ha,” explains Peter Cowlrick (director in CCC Agronomy Ltd), who managed the trials.

In a second trial in Suffolk, the trend is the same, with TuYV resistant varieties leading the pack. Aurelia managed a top yield of 6.1t/ha, well above that of Campus at just above 5.6t/ha. Ambassador yielded just below 5.9t/ha and Aspire 5.86t/ha.

“What these results show is that with varieties such as; Aspire, Aurelia and Ambassador, there is no longer the yield drag once associated with TuYV resistance – infact, it’s quite the opposite.”

“In the south-east, where the risk of TuYV infection is very high, on some farms almost 80% of the crop going into the ground this autumn will be TuYV resistant varieties. These varieties also play an important role in IPM, as there is less reliance on insecticides,” says Mr Cowlrick.

Why are levels of TuYV so high?

The link between high numbers of aphids in the autumn and corresponding levels of infection is clear,” says Dr Vasilis Gegas. “Infection usually occurs in September to October when aphids are still flying; the earlier a crop is infected, the less seeds/pods develop, so the harsher the yield penalty.”

Early drilled crops that are more open, corresponding with mild autumnal conditions, are at the highest risk. Since the loss of the neonicotinoids in 2016, control of aphids has become more and more difficult, so numbers have increased, with a subsequent build up of TuYV inoculum in the environment.

Once an aphid is infected, it is infected for life – if an uninfected aphid feeds on an infected plant, the aphid becomes infected and so the cycle continues.

“Last autumn, infection rates in some areas were as high as 100% which is unusual, and the impact of this is being seen in harvest results across the country.”

“It’s the second season in the UK for Bombardier and it was highly successful in trials and on farm in 2018,” he says. “Sown up to mid-July, it survived in dry conditions and provided a high feed value grazing crop in autumn through to the end of January.”

Results from Limagrain’s innovation site in Lincolnshire showed fresh weight yields of 80 tonnes per hectare and nine to 11 tonnes of dry matter per hectare. Dry matter content was 13.5% and digestibility of 72.2%.

“The relative dry matter yield for this new variety was 18% above the control variety, that’s 1.74 tonnes more from each hectare –  a real boost for forage stocks.”

Bombardier has been bred for improved stem and leaf utilisation, and this has provided a higher feed value crop. Poor stem quality, that may have been 60% to 70% of the total yield, has held back the feed value of forage kale. The softer and more digestible stems seen in these new varieties bring improved feed value and utilisation of the crop.

“In the past, farmers have faced a bit of a dilemma when it comes to kale,” adds Mr Titley. “If the kale crop is grazed well, then crop utilisation is good, but the poor feed value in the stem will limit liveweight gain. A less well-grazed crop, where a proportion of the stem is left, will achieve better liveweight gains but poorer crop utilisation.

“Marrow stem kales like Bombardier are highly digestible and have improved dry matter yields and utilisation potential, can overcome this dilemma.”

Kale should be drilled in spring and before mid-July at a seed rate of 5kg per hectare, and growers are encouraged to opt for varieties that are club root tolerant and where the seed can be supplied with a fungicide seed treatment.

“The great benefit of a kale crop is its flexibility,” says Mr Titley. “It can be used any time from September to February, so it is ideal for outwintering production systems and it is a popular choice for dairy young stock, beef cattle and sheep.”

Kale – the facts:

Sowing rate            4-5kg/ha

Growing costs         £496/ha

Dry matter              9-11t/ha

Crude protein          16-17%

ME                         10-11kg DM

In the absence of neonicotinoid seed treatments, this autumn, growers will be looking for different management strategies to contain the barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV).

Whilst all cereals and grasses are affected, the biggest impact will be on barley. Symptoms are bright yellow leaves, which develop into large areas of yellowing and stunted plants.

To get the best control possible, cultural control methods will need to be understood, adapted and combined with timely pyrethroid applications, says Ron Granger of plant breeders Limagrain UK.

“The impact on yield can be significant, with higher losses coming from earlier infection, which can be as much as 2.5t/ha,” he says.

A new and exciting variety available to growers this autumn is Rafaela; a conventional six-row winter barley that carries the traits for Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) tolerance and Barley Yellow Mosaic Virus (BaYMV) resistance.

Mr Granger points out that it’s important to note that it’s a tolerance to BYDV rather than a resistance, which means that the variety can be infected with the virus but does not show the associated symptoms.

Ron Granger, Limagrain’s Technical Arable Manager

“Think of it as a natural plant immune system – you may still see some leaf yellowing but without the associated impact on yields – so it is a really valuable tool in the fight against BYDV.”

“However, farmers will still need to manage aphids,” he says. “Spraying in mid-October and in mid-November with pyrethroids is the best approach, as this targets both sets of aphid arrivals.”

“The virus is still circulating in the plant – the gene does not break its lifecycle but the tolerance provides a form of risk management if the weather turns and spraying is delayed.”

“The trait provides a get out of jail card, but it still needs protecting.”

However there’s more to Rafaela than its BYDV tolerance and ability to produce high yields, he adds. “It’s vigorous and early to mature, making it an ideal entry to oilseed rape, or if wanting to get something drilled whilst delaying drilling winter wheat.”

Work conducted at Agrii’s black-grass trials at Stow Longa showed Rafaela to be one of the most competitive barleys for black-grass, says Agrii’s head of agronomy, Colin Lloyd.

“In the trials, we only counted 45 black-grass ears/m2 in the Rafaela, compared to 96 ears/m2 in the best two-row winter barley, California.”

‘It’s right up there with the hybrids for black-grass competitiveness’.

“It really gets up and away – it’s quick in the spring- and this gives it the competitive advantage.”

In Agrii trials last year which were taken to harvest, Margin Over Input Costs (MOIC) were compared between barleys in this grass-weed scenario.

“Eight varieties of winter barley were drilled on the 30^th September 2018, which when taken to harvest yielded an average of 8.92t/ha, producing an average gross margin of £904/ha.”

“Of these, the best 2-row was California which yielded 9.01t/ha, producing a MOIC of £933/ha. However Rafaela out-yielded the California at 9.19t/ha, producing a GM of £954/ha – that’s a significant increase of £21/ha.”

Rafaela, Winter Barley

But compare this to winter wheat drilled right next to these plots on the same day, he adds.

“We drilled 23 varieties which averaged 5.12 t/ha with an average GM of £184 per hectare. The difference is clear, Rafaela makes money and winter wheat loses money in this earlier drilled slot in a blackgrass situation – a sobering thought.”

Limagrain continues to evaluate the best ways of using Rafaela’s genetics for on-farm performance.

“We are doing work with a range of industry partners on both naturally infected and inoculated aphid trials, and we are also testing the variety in treated and untreated insecticide trials. This will provide us with the depth of information on how and where we can fully exploit Rafaela’s exciting genetics to their full potential, says Mr Granger.