“Trials show that Mezzo has consistently produced 18 tonnes of dry matter per hectare in conditions similar to those in the UK,” says Limagrain grass seed manager Ian Misselbrook. “This is at least 5% ahead of other lucerne varieties on the UK market. Its average crude protein content of 19.3% will give protein production from home grown forage a welcome boost on many units.”

Mezzo also has a track record of being disease and nematode resistant and it has a low dormancy rating of 3.6. “This is a great advantage to UK growers, especially in the Midlands and north.

“It offers more winter hardiness and will withstand harsh winter conditions. And its yield does not suffer because of its increased persistency; Mezzo’s exceptional growth more than compensates for this leading to its outstanding yields.”

Limagrain UK continues to supply Marshal lucerne that offers dry matter yields of 14 tonnes per hectare and a protein content of 18.1%. “This variety has been popular with growers for many years. It is thinner stemmed and has a high leaf to stem ratio than many other varieties.

“The thinner stems makes Marshal the best lucerne variety available for baling and wrapping and it’s favourable leaf to stem ratio improves palatability and feed quality,” adds Mr Misselbrook.

Both Mezzo and Marshal can be clamped, baled or made into hay. Up to five cuts per year are possible and the crop is very drought tolerant.

“A lucerne crop will typically give four years’ continuous production of high protein, high mineral forage with a dry matter content around 30% and digestibility of 70. The lower cell wall content than grass makes lucerne highly digestible and intakes of cattle on lucerne tends to be high,” he adds.

LUCERNE GROWING

• Likes fine firm seedbed
• Likes well-drained soils
• Sown right through summer from April
• Deep-rooted system so it can withstand drought
• No Nitrogen required – it’s a legume
• Should get four cuts – cutting cycle 40 days
• Varieties with winter hardiness and persistency are available such as Mezzo and Marshal

Bred by Betaseed, and marketed by agents Limagrain UK, the 2019 BBRO Recommended List (RL) clearly shows that the yield potential of BTS 1140 is significantly above the most widely grown varieties in 2018, yielding 107.6 % (adjusted tonnes), over three years of trials. BTS 1140 also has a high sugar content of 18%.

This significant 2-3% increase in yields seen each year in newly recommended sugar beet varieties on the RL is very exciting for the UK’s sugar beet growers. This year the newly recommended varieties offer a 7.6% increase over the control varieties, says Bram Van der Have, sugar beet consultant for Limagrain.

“We are in the fortunate position where breeders are still able to push yields without compromising the sugar content – and this is at a time when many other arable crop yields have plateaued.”

However, the value and importance of on-farm characteristics of sugar beet to UK growers is also reflected in this recommendation, he adds.

“Whilst yield and sugar content are the top criteria for choosing a new sugar beet variety, factors such as establishment and bolting tolerance are also very important – particularly when deciding which variety is the best for a certain situation.”

“For those looking to drill at the normal to later time from mid-March onwards, as most growers will have done this season, BTS 1140 fits this drilling slot very well. It has excellent bolting tolerance – with only 14 bolters per 1000,000 plants/ha – one of the lowest on the RL list. This is combined with good emergence characteristics and a good tolerance to rust. It is also rhizomania tolerant.”

“BTS 1140 is likely to appeal to the grower who wants to take the next step up in yields, and we would encourage growers to try it and take part in raising the bar in sugar beet production even higher.”

2017 saw some of the highest sugar beet yields ever; Limagrain’s varieties BTS 860 and BTS 3325 were no exception and lend themselves well for repeat sowing for the 2019 season.

In fact, BTS 860 was one of the most popular varieties grown in 2017/18 as it has shown itself to be a consistent performer that offers very high yields at 103.9% of controls, alongside one of the highest sugar contents on the Recommended List at 18.2%, says Mr Van der Have.

“Annually, a small part of the national crop is drilled in the early part of March. Early Sown bolting tolerance for varieties sown this early is a key characteristic and BTS 3325 has proven performance in this sector, both commercially and in trials.”

“BTS 3325 has the potential to out-yield many of the traditional varieties drilled in the early sown sector, with the additional benefits of a very high sugar content (18.3%), and excellent disease resistance for rust and powdery mildew.”

High performance on-farm

Michael Wilton of Stody Estate in Norfolk, is always looking for the best performing sugar beet varieties on the Recommended List which means he only grows an individual variety for two-three years.

“I want a variety that is high yielding with a good, quick establishment percentage as I believe that the two things go hand in hand. A consistent high sugar percentage which increases sugar yield per hectare is what we ultimately get paid for.”

“We grow 240ha’s of sugar beet which is split across 4 varieties. I drill after 5^th March, so am looking for a normal drilling, low bolting variety.”

For these reasons Mr Wilton chose to trial 60ha’s of BTS 860 in 2017. “The crop established very well, even on lighter soils. What stood out was its green leaf retention which was good right through the season, so yields continued to build until harvest, which made the variety suitable for late lifting.”

“All of the BTS 860 yielded slightly above the farm average, but one single field that was irrigated stood out, giving us our highest field yield for 2017 at 112t/ha adjusted yields. This well up on our average farm yields by about 15%. The late lifting also delivered sugars above the farm average of 18% at 18.6%.”

“Based on this excellent performance, we will definitely be growing the variety again this year.”

‘Flying Flocks’ refers to a flock of sheep that doesn’t breed its own replacements and which are usually brought in to finish on arable land and crops, says Martin Titley, director of marketing for forage crops with breeders Limagrain UK.

So, what are the benefits and is this something that arable farmers should be considering?

“Soil always benefits from increased organic matter. Manure from grazing animals is slowly released and can be utilised by the arable crops following in the rotation. Sheep generally defecate more evenly and are less damaging to the soil than cattle and should therefore be the animal of choice.”

Sowing grass leys or fast-growing brassica crops can also help combat black grass. The crops can be grazed off which can help with the switch to a spring sown arable crop, he points out.

“Grass leys can be sown in spring or autumn and can be grazed for a period of 1-3 years and are great for black grass infested fields. Mixtures such as Sinclair McGill Lambtastic includes beneficial herbs such as Chicory and Plantains as well as White Clovers, which will finish lambs and help with the soil structure.”

“Mixed species on the farm helps crop diversity and for many, may help unlock environmental scheme payments for grazed crops and fencing. There’s also the option of developing a partnership with other farmers, and also encouraging young farmers to have a stake in a new enterprise, can be rewarding to both parties.”

If all of this sounds attractive and something that may work on your farm, then the next step is to think about cropping, he says.

“Consider what you want to use the crop for and when it needs to be ready for feeding – this will help with the choice of forage crop.”

There are several options:

Stubble turnip Samson – easy to grow; crops are usually sown after barley in July and early August. They are fast growing, with some crops being ready to feed in 12-14 weeks.

Tonnes fresh yield/ha 38-45

Growing costs/ha £305

Forage rape Rampart – another fast-growing brassica crop that can be sown in June to August. It is more winter hardy than stubble turnip, so crops can be left for later use.

Tonnes fresh yield/ha 24-35

Growing costs/ha £408

Kale Pinfold – great for providing huge feed yields that can be grazed into February, but crops need to be sown earlier, in May to June.

Tonnes fresh yield/ha 60-65

Growing costs/ha £496

The restored hybrid is officially recommended for east/west regions, but Openfield’s Lee Bennett says evidence suggests it suits almost any location, soil type or drilling slot. Indeed, Aquila was the top variety at the Croft variety trials near Darlington last year and many crops in northern England and Scotland have performed as well as further south, he says.

“It’s exciting to find a variety that can match or beat established favourites. Aquila has strong vigour in autumn and spring, good phoma and light leaf spot resistance, pod shatter resistance, stiff straw and doesn’t grow too tall.”

Yields well despite tough conditions

Richard Wainwright, who farms 510ha on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, is growing Aquila for the second time after last year’s crop, direct drilled after wheat, yielded an impressive 5t/ha.

“It went in later than usual, but still established well. We’re only sowing 30 seeds/sq m, targeting 15-17 plants/sq m in March, so crops can look a bit thin at first. But once we got to the end of March, it grew and branched out amazingly and yielded 5t/ha.”

This season’s 30ha, which was direct drilled after winter barley on 19^th August, has again gone into a challenging situation as the field is surrounded by woodland on three sides, resulting in significant pigeon pressure. Despite this, and difficult weather earlier in the year, the crop is doing well, he says. “It showed good autumn vigour and really got going once we reached mid-April.”

“It’s got really good disease ratings and we’ve never felt it’s let itself down due to disease. Pod shatter resistance is another good attribute to have.”

Mr Wainwright adds: “There is a myriad of varieties coming through the breeding system, promising all sorts of things. I’m looking for a ‘keeper’ and on the evidence of last year and this year’s crop so far, Aquila looks to fit that bill. We’ll see how it yields, but at this stage I’ll certainly grow it again next year.”

Aquila stands out from others

Aquila’s autumn and spring vigour has similarly impressed Lincolnshire farmer Daniel King, who has 80ha (200 acres) of his 280ha (700 acres) of oilseed rape down to the variety, at Pasture Hill Farm, Edenham near Bourne.

“It’s our first year growing Aquila and so far it looks far superior to anything else, which includes Extrovert and Campus. It established really well in the autumn, and sprang out of the blocks quickly in the spring when other varieties seemed to struggle to get going in cold, wet conditions.”

“We’ve never had an issue with Extrovert in the past, but it doesn’t look a patch on the Aquila, while Campus also looks poor.”

Oilseed rape was sown from 20^th August onwards, using a 6m Cousins Micro Wing shallow subsoiler set to 600mm leg spacing. A 14-14-0 liquid starter fertiliser was included with seed, to boost establishment on the predominantly heavy land.

“We’re surrounded by woodland which means there’s a lot of pressure from pigeons and deer, so crops have to get away quickly,” Mr King says. “Last year was also the worst we’ve seen for flea beetle activity, but thankfully crops grew away before there was much damage.”

Aquila’s strong disease resistance – particularly to phoma (rated 8) and light leaf spot (6) is another important attribute, as it gives some flexibility around spray timings, he adds.

“We treat all varieties the same with a robust programme of two autumn and two spring fungicides, but having a variety with a good disease profile does buy time if we can’t get on to spray.”

He also values Aquila’s pod shatter resistance, which should reduce harvest losses and benefit yield.

Mr King says Aquila is likely to be the dominant rape variety sown this autumn, given it’s performance so far, although he will retain a mix of varieties to spread risk. Lee Bennett acknowledges that sowing vigorous varieties early can sometimes increase the risk of producing over-thick canopies that are at greater lodging risk, but insists Aquila is a good option in early drilling slots due to its stiff stems.

“It’s true slot is the mainstream sowing window, starting in the third week of August – that’s where it really shines. But it works well grown early or late.”

Aquila’s key attributes

• Strong hybrid vigour in autumn and spring
• Good disease resistance
• Pod shatter resistance
• Stiff straw
• High oil content

The disease is typically most severe in wetter regions with a history of mixed cropping, such as Scotland and northern or western England, but isolated cases occur across the UK, with losses exceeding 50% of yield potential in the worst-affected crops.

“Clubroot is still a relatively niche problem compared to diseases like light leaf spot, but we’re seeing more cases around the country, and for growers in hotspot areas there’s a high proportion who have at least one field affected,” Limagrain’s Vasilis Gegas says.

“It mirrors what we’re seeing elsewhere in Europe where clubroot incidence is increasing, possibly as a consequence of climate change resulting in more frequent, milder and wetter winters. It is why the disease is our most heavily-invested oilseed rape breeding trait, aside from turnip yellows virus.”

Resistant hybrid varieties such as; Archimedes, offer a valuable option for growing oilseed rape on infected land, and newcomers such as; Alasco, promise to virtually eliminate the “yield drag” associated with resistant varieties in the past, says Dr Gegas.

“Alasco is the next generation of clubroot resistant varieties, with a yield close to mainstream varieties and oil content 3% higher than Archimedes.”

Alasco retains and enhances many of the traits in Archimedes that were developed specifically for northern areas, such as robust light leaf spot resistance, short stiff straw, pod shatter resistance and early maturity.

Agrii northern seed sales manager; Rodger Shirreff, who plans to try Alasco for the first time this autumn says, Archimedes has served growers well over recent years, allowing good yields to be produced from clubroot-infected land.

The variety’s vigorous autumn establishment is particularly beneficial as it allows the taproot to establish quickly, providing a solid foundation to build on. It is also one of the quicker varieties to resume growth in the spring, he notes.

“Clubroot is a widespread issue in Scotland, that’s been perpetuated by tight (one year in four) rotations. But it’s not limited to Scotland; we’re also seeing increasing problems further south, so more growers are moving to resistant varieties.”

Protect future resistance

While genetic resistance is very effective, Dr Gegas warns the clubroot pathogen (Plasmodiophora brassicae) is capable of evolving and overcoming resistance in certain circumstances, so genetics must be supported with good husbandry and stewardship.

He advises against growing resistant varieties unless clubroot is a significant problem and says extended rotations of at least one year in seven or eight, and careful soil management must also be used to control disease.

“There’s a lot to gain from making soil conditions unfavourable for clubroot by liming to increase the pH to 6/7, prior to drilling or improving drainage of waterlogged areas. Wider rotations alone aren’t the answer because the pathogen can survive for such a long time in soil.”

Commercial soil tests can be useful for confirming presence of the clubroot pathogen, but should only be a guide, he notes. “We often find many soils contain the pathogen, but that doesn’t mean disease will develop or there will be an impact on yield, as it still requires the right environmental conditions.”

“Last autumn was mild and wet so we saw a lot of symptoms, and if climate change leads to frequent, milder and wetter winters, we could well see a wider spread of the disease.”

Mr Shirreff says clubroot can sometimes go unnoticed until significant yield declines are seen, so vigilance is essential if growers suspect there may be an issue.

Clubroot incidence tends to be patchy and leads to affected plants wilting in hot, dry weather, becoming stunted or dying completely as the galls that form on the tap root restrict water and nutrient uptake.

He also points out that volunteers from previous oilseed rape crops can harbour the disease and need to be controlled.

“We’ve seen situations in the past where a resistant variety has been grown and it’s appeared to have broken down to the pathogen, but in fact it’s instead the non-resistant volunteers that have grown up within the crop and then succumbed to the disease. Examples like this really highlight the strength of growing resistant varieties.”

The breeder is particularly excited about its soft feed variety LG Skyscraper which is the highest yielding wheat candidate at 109% and will potentially be the overall highest yielding wheat variety, should it gain full recommendation to the 2019-20 List.

LG Skyscraper’s very high yield at 109% over control shows a significant 4% increase over the control feed variety KWS Santiago in treated trials and demonstrates that the variety is capable of competing with many of the high yielding feed varieties that have been added to the AHDB RL in the last couple of seasons, says Ed Flatman, Limagrain UK’s senior wheat breeder.

“LG Skyscraper offers a very high yielding soft wheat with good agronomic characters that compete with the high yielding hard feed wheat sector which has been the dominant sector for the last 10 years.” 

“What is also exciting and really valuable on-farm, is that this yield potential has been consistent across both seasons and regions,” he says.

LG Skyscraper has a pedigree of (Cassius x NAWW29) x KWS Santiago, and it is this balance of genetics that brings excellent disease resistance to the variety; LG Skyscraper has good resistance ratings for mildew (7), yellow rust (8), brown rust (6) and for Septoria tritici (6).

LG Skyscraper also has Orange Wheat Blossom Midge Resistance (OWBM) which is an important trait that is of increasing value in wheat varieties due to restrictions on insecticide products, says Mr Flatman.

“Currently less than half of the UK wheat crop carries resistance to OWBM. It’s important that the threat to wheat yields from OWBM is not neglected as we have already seen some pretty high midge numbers this spring-  so it doesn’t make sense to grow a susceptible variety.”

“This combination of disease resistance offers a variety with improved ratings over many of the feed varieties on the market at present – which is also reflected in LG Skyscraper’s excellent untreated yield performance of 77% of control, way up on that of JB Diego at 61%.”

When considering maturity versus yield, one is often compromised at the expense of the other says Ron Granger, arable technical manager at Limagrain. “Not so with LG Skyscraper that offers a similar maturity to JB Diego (0), but with the bonus of higher yields”.

Limagrain trials suggest that LG Skyscraper has similar standing power as other leading feed varieties already in the market place. Mr Granger points out that 2017 lodging data should be viewed with caution ‘as it was an erratic season with regards to plant growth, and a difficult season for targeted agronomic programmes.’

Limagrain data shows the variety to be high tillering with a semi-prostate winter growth habit, and quicker plant development in the spring – similar to Evolution.

“What this translates to into in the field is that LG Skyscraper is suitable for drilling from the third week of September onwards and also offers a later drilling opportunity with regards to the blackgrass control scenario,” he says.

Limagrain data also suggests that LG Skyscraper performs well as a second wheat, (3-year data set) and this is an area in which we will continue to generate more information.

Quality attributes
Mr Flatman points out that LG Skyscraper has excellent grain quality; the variety has a Hagberg Falling Number (HFN) of 216 and specific weight of 77.7, in comparison to the hard feed wheat KWS Santiago, with a HFN of 188 and specific weight of 76.3.

“Once again LG Skyscraper bucks the trend combining very high yields with a very good specific weight.”
“After two years of official testing based on top of these excellent grain quality attributes, LG Skyscraper has been rated as a positive for distilling, making it an attractive proposition for growers in the north.”

So, to summarise, for those growers who are looking to grow a Group 4 and maximise their return on investment, they would have to go far to find a better variety than LG Skyscraper, with its very high yields, grain quality attributes and agronomic merits.

The new mixtures are identified with the LGAN (LG Animal Nutrition) accreditation. Included are two mainly cutting mixtures: LGAN Quality Silage and LGAN Protein Silage; and the dual-purpose LGAN Silage and Grazing and grazing mixture LGAN Intensive Grazing.

“LGAN accreditation is awarded to mixtures that deliver superior nutritional value, while maintaining excellent agronomic qualities and yield,” says Limagrain’s seed specialist John Spence. “We support each LGAN mixture with independent trial data that demonstrates the added feed value.”

Based on data from trials carried out at the Schothorst Research Institute, based in the Netherlands, cows fed on a diet including the LGAN grass mixture produced 1.4 litres per day more milk than the group of cows fed a dual-purpose mixture. Based on 300 days in milk and a milk price of 28ppl, the LGAN mixture added £118 per cow to milk value.

The LGAN Intensive Grazing mixture also out-performed a control mixture of recommended varieties in Dartington forage quality trials. Taking multiple test points throughout the season, the LGAN mixture showed an improvement in dry matter yield of 1.78t/ha and energy of 25,694MJ/ha compared to the control. “This increase in energy is equivalent to 4,848 litres of milk,” adds Mr Spence. “Based on a price of 28ppl, this is worth an extra £1,357 per hectare.”

Highly popular and trusted Monarch mixtures, such as the medium and long-term cutting mixtures Maxicut and Multicut and the Matrix grazing range, remain prominent in the latest brochure. “These mixtures are made up of consistent and high quality tested seed that has been treated with Headstart^® Gold to ensure rapid and reliable germination,” he says.

“Reseeding and grass ley maintenance is an important part of livestock management, leading to improved feed quality and higher productivity. But this depends on selecting quality seed mixtures with a proven track record.”

More details and the new Monarch range can be downloaded from HERE

Bred in New Zealand and used widely by its cattle and sheep producers, Tuatara has established a reputation as a high yielding and high feed quality forage.

Trialled by Limagrain in 2017, it out-performed the control variety Tonic, in fresh and dry matter yields.

Seven cuts were taken from the plots at Limagrain’s trial site in Lincolnshire, between April and September. Tuatara produced fresh yields of 91.4 tonnes/ ha and an average dry matter yield of 12.76 tonnes/ha, compared to a fresh yield of 72 tonnes/ha and a dry matter yield of 10.4 tonnes/ ha for the control variety Tonic.

Dry matter contents were 14% and 14.4% respectively. “Tuatara is a variety especially well-suited to drier conditions, and this was reflected in the trial results in 2017,” says Limagrain UK’s grass seed manager Ian Misselbrook. “We found that yields of Tuatara were up to three times greater than those for Tonic in May and June. Although yields of Tonic were around 20% higher later in the season, yields overall for Tuatara were higher.”

Tuatara is included in Limagrain’s multi-species mixtures, to help to boost yields in mid-summer when the growth of other species slows down. It is also available to growers wishing to add it to a grass seed mixture or for those growing a single crop of plantain; a successful practice carried out by many farmers in New Zealand.

Forage plantain has fibrous roots so it can withstand drought and grow well when grass growth has slowed down in mid-summer, when rainfall is generally lower. “Tuatara appears to be especially suited to this situation and it will be very beneficial to include in grass sward mixtures,” adds Mr Misselbrook.

Plantain is easy to grow, but a free draining soil is preferable. A firm, fine and weed free seed bed is required and it is best sown into warm soils above 10 degrees celcius. Sowing is best through spring and up to July, and at a depth no greater than 10mm. It is an excellent source of key minerals required for livestock such as calcium, sodium, copper and selenium.

Intakes and yields of milk solids have been shown to be higher in dairy cattle grazing swards that included plantain, compared to ryegrass-only swards. Likewise, plantain-rich swards have been shown to support higher stocking rates and liveweight gains in lambs.

For more information click here

Introduced commercially in 2018 by Limagrain UK, this new generation of forage rape has been bred for its flexibility and feed quality.

“Rampart is especially valuable as a forage crop for cereal producers as it can be sown post-harvest and it is ready for grazing – by sheep or cattle – from October to February,” says Limagrain forage crop manager Martin Titley. “It is winter hardy, so it can provide a high-quality feed that retains its palatability.”

Limagrain trials show that this fast-growing brassica, that can be sown from June to August, produces a fresh yield 6% above the control variety used in the trials, and 2% higher dry matter yield. It also scored ‘8’ out of a maximum of ‘9’ for mildew and Alternaria resistance.

Forage rape has an estimated growing cost of £408/ha and yields between 4t and 5t of dry matter/hectare. It has a crude protein among the highest of any forage crop of 19% to 20% and an energy content between 10 and 11 ME/kg DM.

“Forage rape is a great break crop – and a catch crop,” adds Mr Titley. “It can break the pest and disease cycle that can hinder cereal production, and the dung from sheep and cattle, plus any green material that’s ploughed in post grazing, improve soil fertility and soil health. And growers also like the ground cover on arable land which is essential over winter to prevent water runoff and nitrogen leaching.

The minimal effort required to grow forage rape is also attractive to cereal producers. Stubble can be harrowed and the seed then planted with nitrogen fertiliser applied at a rate of 40kg to 50kg per hectare. The crop is also a good user of farm yard manure. After grazing, the land can be prepared for a spring cereal crop or a grass reseed.

Limagrain’s latest forage rape trial results are available HERE.

The word ‘rotation’ is coming more into the fore on many arable units. And this isn’t assumed nowadays to be a cereal rotation, but one that can include grass and forage crops, especially on mixed farms with sheep flocks, finishing lamb or cattle enterprises.

“Some arable producers might go as far as introducing livestock – finishing lambs or beef cattle, and this can bring great advantages to the business,” says Limagrain’s Martin Titley.

“Forage crops or grass swards provide a cost-effective feed for livestock, but they also bring great benefits for soil health and weed control.”

Crops such as stubble turnips, forage rape, forage rye and brassica mixtures produce high quality autumn and winter feed cost-effectively.

Stubble turnips, forage rape and the new rape/kale hybrids can be sown up until the end of August. They’re quick to establish and some varieties can be ready for grazing within 12 and 14 weeks of sowing. Hardier varieties can be left for grazing over winter.

“A crop of stubble turnips after winter barley is ideal for finishing lambs. It’s ready for grazing by the end of October, and a hectare of stubble turnips will provide 40 days worth of grazing for 100 lambs. This enables many farmers to sell a crop of lambs early in the season, when prices tend to be higher.”

Rape/kale hybrids are fast-growing catch crops and there are high yielding varieties. “Interval, for example, produced dry matter yields 17% above the control in our recent trial work,” adds Mr Titley. “This makes it an ideal crop for finishing lambs or for maintenance of ewes from late summer onwards,” he adds.

Stubble turnips also make an ideal feed in the autumn with hardy, mildew tolerant varieties such as Rondo are ideally suited to grazing through winter.

“Look at some good brassica mixtures too. They can combine a high protein forage rape with kale, blended with a high-energy stubble turnip to provide a balanced autumn and winter keep with minimal effort. There are good mixtures with ‘built-in’ disease resistance, winter hardiness and early establishment advantages.”

Another catch crop worth considering is forage rye that can be sown as late as October, following maize or cereals. This can provide an early bite in spring with up to three weeks’ earlier spring growth than Italian ryegrass with yields that are typically between five and six tonnes of dry matter per hectare.

He encourages arable producers to think more widely about the choice of crops for livestock. “The 2017/18 was a long season and many forages ran out. With some careful planning, farmers can have a crop to graze right through the season.”

Breaking the arable rotation with grass leys, fast-growing brassica crops and root crops can also help combat black grass. “These roots and brassicas can be grazed off ahead of a spring crop, or ahead of a grass reseed. And leaving a grass ley down for two years or more will help break the blackgrass cycle too. These rotations can have a very beneficial impact on weed control and soil health.

“And of course, soil always benefits from increased organic matter,” adds Mr Titley. “Manure from grazing animals is slowly released and can be utilised by the arable crops that follow in the rotation.

“In many cases, breaking the arable rotation with a fodder crop or grass is a win-win situation, and one we are seeing increasingly on many traditional cereal units.”

Tim Richmond, Maize Product Manager for Limagrain UK says that originally the maize for AD market was dominated by very late maturing, high yielding but generally lower quality varieties, but growers are becoming more interested in the attributes of the varieties grown such as dry matter and energy content and their ability to produce more methane.

“Many growers have focussed solely on the yield of the crop without paying sufficient attention to quality attributes.  For optimum efficiency you don’t want a large quantity of low dry matter, low energy feed, yet this is exactly what growers get when they focus on varieties selected solely on yield.

“It is also important to select early maturing varieties as they have significant environmental benefits, helping meet the terms of the biogas.org.uk voluntary code of practice.  In particular, by being harvested earlier and in better conditions, there is less chance of damaging soil structure and a greater opportunity to establish successor crops.

“Early varieties were a particularly good fit this year, where the late spring sowing in many parts of the country has resulted in a shorter available growing period that will impact ripening at harvest.”

Mr Richmond says there has been a move towards varieties with better quality attributes, principally ME content and cell wall digestibility.  With 50% of the total energy being in the vegetative part of the plant, increasing cell wall digestibility is becoming increasingly important.

“A key driver of efficiency is the rate of fermentation. The faster and more completely feedstock is fermented, the faster the gas is generated and the greater the total output.

“A low ME, less digestible plant will take longer to ferment. It may produce the same gas yield but it will take more time to get it.  Higher cell wall digestibility helps increase the energy output per day spent in the digester.

“The ideal variety for AD is early maturing with high dry matter yield, combined with excellent ME content and superior cell wall digestibility.”

Mr Richmond says the BSPB/NIAB Maize Descriptive Lists which contains data to assess the quality characteristics of varieties that will influence their suitability for AD allows AD operators to make a more balanced judgement regarding potential varieties.

“The system tests the very latest varieties in UK conditions against other well-known forage maize varieties. Results include all the key criteria affecting quality including dry matter content, dry matter yield, ME content and ME Yield.  Growers can now assess varieties based on the characteristics that will influence their potential to produce methane.

“While well-proven varieties such as Atrium, Asgaard and Fieldstar continued to rank highly, the 2018 list contained two new varieties which show exceptional potential delivering exactly the attributes required to increase methane yield and AD plant efficiency.”

Gatsby is an impressive variety producing high yields of energy rich silage, scoring highly on ME yield and relative ME yield thanks to a combination of high dry matter yields and excellent ME content, a result of high starch content and excellent cell wall digestibility.  Being earlier maturing it can fit seamlessly into arable rotations, enabling the establishment of successor crops.

LG31.211 is highly digestible with massive yields combined with excellent quality – meaning it will support excellent gas yields

“On favourable sites these varieties produce over a tonne DM/ha more than the average of the evaluated varieties, and over 2.5t DM/ha more than the lower performing varieties.  This equates to 350 cubic metres more methane per hectare than the average, worth £260/ha for no increase in growing costs.  At the same time the improved digestibility will increase the rate of digestion, increasing overall plant throughput.  For a 500kW digester requiring around 220ha of maize this could add up to over 77,000 cubic metres more methane than if an average performing variety is grown, worth £59,000 and so having a huge impact on performance and financial returns.”

For one Central Angus grower, however, that debate has now been put to bed and he is now growing all conventional after one open-pollinated variety showed its mettle in a tough Autumn.

James Hopkinson manages about 1000ha of cropping under the umbrella of Arable Ventures, a Joint venture (JV) set up in 2014 between two family farming businesses.

Based around Kirriemuir & Forfar, the business produces combinable crops, and lets out land for vining peas and potatoes, with about 175ha of oilseed rape in the rotation, depending on the season.

Mr Hopkinson says he has experimented with hybrids, alongside conventional open pollinated types such as Anastasia and Nikita on the recommendation of Nick Wallace of Nickersons.

During autumn 2016, his strategy was to favour a hybrid variety for the later drilling slot up to mid-September, but after running out of seed had to use some Anastasia seed finish off some end rigs.

Growing the two side by side, there was little difference between the two varieties, even in such a late window, and going into the winter conventional Anastasia looked much better than its hybrid counterpart.

“It proved to me that hybrids in that situation aren’t necessarily all they are cracked up to be, with Anastasia having enough vigour, even when sown so late,” explains Mr Hopkinson.

Northern performer

The variety’s early vigour is one of the key reasons for the variety’s consistently high performance in the North, yielding 106% of controls and up with the latest recommended varieties some five years after its first listing.

It also has a resistance score of 7 for light leaf spot, a disease that can play havoc with northern growers in a high-pressure year and is short and stiff, so stands well in adverse conditions.

Taking an integrated approach to his crop management, the light leaf spot score of Anastasia is something that appeals to Mr Hopkinson to aid the judicious use fungicide inputs.

Disease risk was relatively low during 2016-17 and farm managed applied no fungicide to its two oilseed rape varieties – Anastasia and fellow conventional Nikita – and average yields still came in at a bumper 4.6 t/ha.

“Unless light leaf spot pressure is high, we won’t treat for it – you can’t blanket spray and should assess things on a field-by-field basis.

“I did find significant levels of sclerotinia sclerotia in the stubbles after the combine last year though, so we will have to use a flowering spray as a matter of coarse, particularly as we have [sclerotinia hosts] vining peas, potatoes and carrots in the rotation too.”

As Arable Ventures approaches its fourth harvest, Mr Hopkinson will again be cutting Anastasia and Nikita, alongside a small area of Campus. One field of Anastasia has also been entered in to ADAS’s Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) competition.

Both Anastasia and Nikita will be in drilling plans for autumn 2018 and Mr Hopkinson notes Anastasia is the only variety that has featured in every season since the business started back in 2013.

“I’ve tried others, but it has been so consistent and is now well-proven [on our farm]. It establishes well, has a good light leaf spot score, stands and yields, so you can’t ask for more,” he adds.

Canopy management

Limagrain’s oilseed rape breeder Vasilis Gegas says no obvious weaknesses stand out in Anastasia’s Recommended List statistics and the driver behind its continued growth in market share.

However, he says one thing growers must be wary of is drill date, with its powerful early vigour potentially leading to an over-thick canopy in good conditions.

“Anastasia gives you a good early plant population and grows away well in a range of environments, but if you drill too early, you will have to manipulate the canopy with PGRs [plant growth regulators] and nitrogen.

“Use green area index measurements to adjust rates and don’t go crazy with seed rates – aim for a target plant population of 25-35 plants/m sq,” explains Dr Gegas.

Key variety features – Anastasia