After six years on the Recommended List, Group 1 bread maker Crusoe still fits these criteria, producing high yields and is snapped up by millers for its top bread making qualities.

For CCC Agronomy and AICC crop consultant Peter Cowlrick, who walks crops across Sussex and Hampshire, that is why Crusoe still makes up a significant proportion of the advisory group’s milling wheat acreage.

Pushing his milling wheat’s hard with high nitrogen rates, whether yields have been average or touched 14t/ha in bumper years, Crusoe has always hit the 13% grain protein required by the millers.

Mr Cowlrick also likes its even development, with the correct nutrient plan allowing growers to easily produce the right number of tillers and ears/sq m for optimum yields.

“For Septoria, October sown Crusoe is approaching [a resistance score] of 7, so it gives you flexibility on fungicide spend. Our experience is that in general you don’t need the more expensive SDHI products at T1.

“In the main, quality wheats are drilled from the 10 October onwards effectively reducing disease pressure and enabling a lower fungicide spend overall, but you will need to be prepared to invest a little more at T3 to maintain quality and control brown rust,” he adds.

Manageable weakness

Crusoe’s brown rust score of 3 is something that may concern current and potential growers, but Mr Cowlrick says lessons have been learned from last season, when brown rust was particularly problematic.

Where Crusoe was drilled early, the disease established itself in crops in the autumn and was difficult to control all season, before killing off green leaf area late in the summer and dragging down yields.

This year Mr Cowlrick used a cost-effective azole application in the autumn to clear out early inoculum and the rest of the fungicide programme contained rust-active options at each timing.

“We have had no issues with brown rust this year so far, so it isn’t impossible to control. You will also need a good PGR programme if you are pushing Crusoe with 300kg/ha plus of nitrogen, but all in all, it is manageable.

“There is nothing like having a variety you know is going to perform consistently each year,” explains Mr Cowlrick.

Quality benchmark

While some newer Group 1s are attracting interest with their milling quality and Mr Cowlrick is looking at how they perform on farm this season, Crusoe’s marketability is a reason why it will feature heavily in his cropping plans for 2018-19.

National Association of British and Irish Four Millers (Nabim) use Crusoe as a control variety, so is the current benchmark for bread making quality that other potential Group 1 wheats are up against.

Nabim’s policy and research officer Joe Brennan says Crusoe still just edges out all other Group 1s for baking quality and he doesn’t see any reason why in the short-term millers might look to phase out its use.

“If there are still the quantities being grown on farm, they will continue to use it,” he adds.

Mr Cowlrick sees this is a particularly important consideration when choosing a variety this autumn, as the 2019 harvest will be the first to be sold in an uncertain post-Brexit environment.

“It is consistent and has demand and growers need to have [those attributes] in the back of their minds,” he adds.

Situated in the Thames Valley in South Buckinghamshire, Burnham Beeches measures 6,458 yards, has a Par 70 and offers a true and challenging test of golf. Founded in 1891, it is the oldest club in Buckinghamshire after it was founded by a group of locals who called a public meeting in the village school.

Over the years the course has gained a great reputation and has been graced with players such as James Braid, J H Taylor and Harry Vardon who, between them, won the British Open no less than 16 times, as well as other golfing legends such as Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer.

Lee has been working at Burnham Beeches for an impressive 20 years and has been the Course Manager for the last 10. Along with six other members of staff Lee tends to the course, which is located in a beautiful setting on the edge of the historic Burnham Beeches woodland and is framed by a large number of mature trees.

Surrounded, mostly, by natural beauty there was however one particular area of the course which Lee felt needed improving.

“There was a bit of a wasteland area around our nets and the clubhouse directly overlooked it,” he says. “To be honest it was very scruffy and it wasn’t a great view for our members. It definitely needed a makeover and that is why we thought we would try the Colour Splash mixtures from Limagrain.”

Limagrain UK’s range of Colour Splash flower mixtures are used in a broad range of landscape and amenity areas throughout the UK. The much loved brand was first established over ten years ago where the development of the mixtures were created in the beautiful county of Loir-et-Cher, in the centre of France. With nine mixtures in the Colour Splash range there is a floral arrangement for every requirement – whether it be a golf course, a local authority green space or any other establishment that has an area which needs brightening up.

For Burnham Beeches, Lee initially chose Aurora – a medium height mixture which grows to around a half-metre tall. It contains Sunbow Zinnia and Trianon Cosmos which provide more effective and long-lasting flowering. After using this mixture for two years running and receiving huge praise from club members, Lee decided to add the Festival mixture this year.

“The Aurora mixture was really successful and I wanted to enhance the area with another mixture. I used the Festival seed this year because it will add a bit more height and can be seen even more so from a distance. The area is visible from quite a few areas on the golf course so it will be there for everybody to see.

“The members absolutely love it and have been really supportive. Once they saw the stunning array of flowers, and the potential it had, they started pushing for us to do more areas – hence why we are going to do even more areas with the Colour Splash next year.”

The Colour Splash range of mixtures are extremely easy to sow and the resulting vigorous plants are more than capable of competing with weeds. Their vigour is equally matched by robustness; resisting long periods of drought. According to Lee they are also a low cost option for those wanting an abundance of colour in fairly quick time.

“It is such a simple process. All I do is hire a rotorvator, use a small bit of weed killer and that is it. The seed mixtures are not expensive whatsoever – you get good, quick germination and I would encourage people to do it.

“I’ve also introduced bees to the area and have installed a couple of hives. There is a lot of press about bees and how scarce they are now so I think it is a great thing to do. We’ve got information boards about the bees on how we need to look after them and how the Colour Splash mixtures will help protect and make them flourish.

“My decision in choosing the Colour Splash was both because of the environmental benefits and the great aesthetics they provide – so if we can give something back to nature at the same time as the course looking great, then I think that is a job well done.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk. You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

Since the withdrawal of neonicotinoid seed dressings, rapeseed producers have been solely reliant on pyrethroid insecticide applications to control the pest.

However, resistance to pyrethroids is making chemical control unreliable, so growers are manipulating drill date to avoid peak adult beetle migration and using higher seed rates to dilute feeding damage and ensure adequate plants survive into the winter.

Reduced potential

ADAS crop physiologist Pete Berry isn’t critical of the tactics, because at present there are no obvious alternatives, but says growers must accept moving away from optimum seed rate as this will reduce crop potential and drilling too early could also be damaging.

“When you are sowing in the first half of August, you are more likely to get over-large canopies and a greater risk of lodging. Large canopies also don’t set as many seeds at flowering and yield potential will be a lot less,” he adds.

Similarly, using high seed rates to dilute flea beetle damage also runs the risk of over-thick canopies and stifles yield.

If drilling later to avoid flea beetles, Dr Berry believes it is not as risky, but there is a cut-off.

“The window for drilling is bigger than people perceive, with mid-September crops often yielding as much as earlier-sown crops. However, if you go beyond mid-September you can usually expect yield to drop off,” he explains.

No silver bullet

 Limagrain’s senior oilseed rape breeder Vasilis Gegas says, in flea beetle hotspots, manipulating drill date or increasing seed rate won’t provide a “silver bullet” for preventing crop failure.

He has seen early-drilled crops on heavy land struggle to grow away quickly in dry conditions and still being small and vulnerable to attack when adult beetles move into the crop in late August.

Dr Vasilis Gegas, Limagrain’s Senior Oilseed Rape Breeder

In addition, he has seen early-September sown crops – when flea beetle pressure is expected to be high – romp away from attack, as they went into a warm, moist seed-bed.

Subsequently, Dr Gegas says growers should ignore calendar date and apply three golden rules for getting oilseed rape safely established and growing away from flea beetle damage.

“Firstly, soil conditions are critical and having adequate moisture will allow the crop to grow away, provided the flea beetle attack isn’t extremely severe,” he adds.

Optimum seed rates

The second rule is to use the correct seed rate and Dr Gegas argues that even drilling a high number of home-saved conventional seed, high flea beetle pressure can still cause partial or complete crop failure in some seasons.

In addition, if that pressure doesn’t materialise, growers are then left with over-thick crops to manage.

“We are now breeding for varieties that suit wider row establishment systems. They branch lower and need light to reach down through the canopy, resulting in the formation of a deeper layer of pods, and therefore higher yields”.

“Target plant populations should be closer to 25-30 plants/m², for both hybrid and conventional types, with 40-45 plants/m² in the case of less vigorous varieties, or more challenging conditions,” he explains.

Vigorous variety

The last golden rule is variety choice, with autumn vigour being an important characteristic for giving crops a fighting chance of growing away from pest attack, with rapid early growth.

“A vigorous variety in a poor seed-bed won’t help, but if the variety is given the conditions it needs to grow well, it certainly can,” says Dr Gegas.

He points out that speed of germination and emergence, plus early rooting capacity, are all important for successful plant establishment, and while strong genetic influence on those characteristics and varietal differences does exist, environmental conditions can play a significant role.

“Hybrids like Aquila or Architect tend to have good autumn vigour and put on more biomass quickly without becoming too lush, when sown earlier”.

Architect Oilseed Rape

“Conventional variety Anastasia is as vigorous as most hybrids and copes very well with late sowing, but it will need canopy management if sown too early”.

“Nikita on the other hand responds well to early sowing with quick establishment, but without getting too forward in the autumn,” notes Dr Gegas.

Ahead of their spring launch, two new cultivars from Limagrain UK will be showcased for the very first time at the show. Big things are expected of Aporina and Caldris when these exciting new cultivars are added to Limagrain’s grass seed mixtures.

Aporina is Limagrain’s new Slender Creeping Red Fescue. It is a very dense, superb all-round cultivar that performs well in both a golf green environment and fairways and tees. In both areas, Aporina has very good disease resistance and will be introduced into a number of Limagrain’s golf green mixtures – MM8 and MM10 and golf fairway mixtures – MM13 and MM22.

Caldris is a new Chewings Fescue which has very similar attributes to Aporina in that it performs extremely well in both golf greens and golf fairways. Caldris will be introduced into Limagrain’s main golf green mixtures and the non-Ryegrass fairways and tees mixtures.

Visitors to the Limagrain stand will also be able to find out more about how the MM mixtures can significantly improve golf courses. For a number of years, greenkeepers and course managers have been reaping the benefits by choosing the MM brand. All the varieties in the MM mixtures are thoroughly tested at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) – ensuring that the finished product will meet your requirements for play, appearance and maintenance.

For greens, the traditional Chewings Fescue / Browntop bent mix, MM11, remains a popular choice in many cases and can be used from spring to autumn. It is ideal for new constructions and overseeding existing swards. A slight variation of which is MM10; both mixes are fine-leaved, disease resistant and make good, dense putting surfaces. Where it is difficult to maintain fescue in the sward or where levels of wear are greater, many choose to use MM9 – a three-way Browntop bent mixture – in late summer/early autumn for best results. For links-style courses, sustainable golf or for early season overseeding, MM8 may well be the solution – a three-way fescue mix with excellent disease resistance, drought tolerance and minimal fertiliser requirements.

If you are looking for a mixture ideal for tees then the all ryegrass MM50 should be considered. It is capable of rapid establishment and fast recovery from divot scarring. For large tees where play is less intense, MM22 is a viable option. Where damage and wear are minimal, use MM12 or MM13, both are suited to ‘Links style’ courses, are drought tolerant and have low maintenance requirements.

For fairways, adaptability is the key attribute because soil conditions, light and shade, contouring and wear will vary markedly in different areas of the course. Choose low maintenance, drought tolerant mixtures with creeping varieties where wear levels are low, such as MM12 or MM13 and select ryegrass mixes, such as MM22, on high divot or intense wear areas.

A selection of Limagrain’s greens and fairways mixtures will be on display on the stand for all to see, these include MM22, MM13 and MM10.

In addition, Limagrain will be running a free prize draw to win tickets to a top international sporting event in the summer.

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/amenity – you can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

Hybrid oilseed rape variety Architect offers a step-up in yields for varieties that also carry TuYV resistance, and has been added as a special variety.

Spring barley LG Diablo gains recommendation as the highest yielding spring barley variety that performs particularly well in the north and east, and is under test for brewing and malt distilling.

LG Tomahawk is a second spring barley from the Limagrain stable that gains recommendation. Under test for malt distilling, LG Tomahawk also offers very high yields in the north and east.

OSR

In the UK Architect produces a gross output 102% over control, which is comparable with other non-TuYV resistant varieties. Gross output in the east/west is also at 102%, whilst in the north gross output is slightly lower at 99%.

This high gross output and yield potential has been reproduced in Limagrain’s own trials across the UK and Europe, showing just how resilient the variety is across a wide geographic area.

“This is a significant step-up in yields since the launch of our first TuYV resistant variety, Amalie in 2015, and shows the success of our breeding approach which aims to maximise yield potential while ensuring yield stability, “says Dr Vasilis Gegas, senior oilseed rape breeder for Limagrain.

“We have worked on reducing yield instability and protecting yield potential, by building traits into our varieties that help to mitigate the impact of environmental and other stresses.”

In trials carried out in 2015 & 2016 by Limagrain across Europe we have been able to show that when compared with non-resistant control varieties, the yield of Architect increases as the TUYV infection levels rise, giving an 11% yield advantage at very high infection level sites.

Architect offers a range of agronomic characters that will make it a firm favourite on farm such as good resistance to light leaf spot (6), stiff straw (8) and early maturity (6).

Architect also offers the genetic trait of pod shatter resistance which provides growers with the ability to dramatically cut seed losses both before and during harvest, resulting in higher yields and reducing volunteer pressure.

Architect has shown itself to be a very vigorous and winter hardy variety. “In Limagrain trials conducted in Poland and Germany in 2016, Architect showed the lowest levels of frost damage of 26 OSR varieties.”

Spring Barleys

LG Diablo is a new non-GN variety which is the highest yielding spring barley on the AHDB Recommended List 2018/19. Currently the variety is under test for brewing and malt distilling which makes it an interesting prospect for both growers and end-users.

This high yield has been shown in national list trials to be consistent over seasons and regions, in both treated and untreated trials, says Les Daubney, Cereal product manager.

LG Diablo has very good mildew resistance rating (9) with a similar rating for Rhynchosporium as Propino. LG Diablo is a moderately short-strawed variety with good resistance to lodging and brackling. It is similar in maturity to Laureate.

LG Tomahawk is also a high yielding non-GN barley, that has been fully recommended. Currently under test for malt distilling, LG Tomahawk offers yields better or comparable to the current malt distilling market leader.

The variety benefits from a very good disease resistance package combined with short, stiff straw and excellent grain quality attributes. Of particular mention is the variety’s very good resistance to mildew (9) and a good resistance to Rhynchosporium.

The idea was to ‘adopt’ a charity who we, as a company, believed in and could focus all of our fundraising efforts entirely on that one charity. “This was an idea that came from Limagrain’s own employees who felt that it would be great to ‘give something back to the farming industry, on which we rely for our business’” says, Rob Cowling, Limagrain UK’s Director of Finance. “We deal with farmers every day, through our Nickerson retail team of Seed Specialists, our contract seed growers, and indirectly through our wholesale channels, and we can all clearly see the challenges that farmers are facing in these difficult and uncertain times” adds Laura Davey, Limagrain UK’s Marketing Manager.

R.A.B.I offer financial support to farming people in hardship of all ages, treating every application for support on its own merits, working with compassion and discretion, “so amongst all the incredibly worthy charities out there, R.A.B.I seemed like the perfect fit for us to ‘give back’” says Laura.

We’ve run a series of organised fundraising events throughout the year, from Cream Tea events, to Bacon Butty Lunches, Sponsored Walks and Welly Wanging for #WellyWeek . “The majority of our events have been centred around wider agricultural events such as British Beef Week and British Breakfast Week, so that we could maximise the exposure for R.A.B.I and spread the word about the great work they do, as well as supporting British agriculture”, Laura says.

Our most recent events however, were Christmas Jumper Day and simply a ‘good old-fashioned’ Christmas raffle with all proceeds going to the charity. Limagrain staff along with friends and family, managed to raise an impressive £651.

Throughout the year , we’ve raised a grand total of £3,193.12 against a target of £3,000! We’re so pleased that we’ve smashed our personal target for the year. To help make this possible, “Limagrain UK kindly offered to match any monies raised, doubling our donations to R.A.B.I. meaning we can give even more back, so with this extra funding, our Christmas raffle raised over £1,300.” adds Rob Cowling.

We plan to continue supporting R.A.B.I in 2018 with a new series of events, so watch this space!

To learn more about The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institute (R.A.B.I) contact:

R.A.B.I
Shaw House
27 West Way
Oxford
OX2 0QH

www.rabi.org.uk

Tel: 01865 724 931

Email: info@rabi.org.uk

This is based on agronomy trials carried out by the breeder that have focussed on monitoring the tillering capacity of spring barley lines over many years.

“It is quite evident that many of the newer varieties appear to be producing higher tiller counts,” says Limagrain’s arable technical manager, Ron Granger.

“The key to upping spring barley yields is achieving high final head counts and choosing a variety with a greater tillering ability.”

Over the last three years of Limagrain trials it is clear to see that newer higher yielding varieties show a corresponding rise in tiller number. First on the Recommended List in 2009, Concerto has a lower tillering ability than newer varieties such as Sienna, which was first listed in 2015. This is a trend that has been seen over three years of Limagrain trials (see Chart 1).

“It is a significant contributory factor in the 10% increase in yield seen from the top varieties added to the AHDB Recommended List over the last 10 years.

Varieties such as Concerto can still achieve high yields if the final target tiller count of about 775m2 is met, but a cultivar that initially produces more tillers will compensate better for tiller loss in stressful conditions, helping crops reach their full potential in most years.

“Looking at tiller counts versus yield from trials, our analysis would suggest that higher tiller counts are increasing yield potential; for full yield potential, we should be aiming at a final tiller count of 775 – 800 /m² in line with the AHDB Barley growth guide recommendations.”

“Spring barley varieties with higher tiller counts are desirable, as in challenging periods during the spring, these varieties are able to lose tillers without a significant yield penalty whereas low tillering varieties will struggle to compensate when the environment is not favourable, due to a loss of tillers.”

As newer spring barley varieties generally have stronger tillering ability, careful attention should be paid to seed rates to optimise plant populations and hit target head numbers, he notes.

When considering seed rate in relation to tillering, our trials comparing variety seed rates over various seasons and regions suggest that with the more vigorous, higher tillering varieties, the optimum seed rate is 350 seeds/m2 when drilling in ideal conditions around mid-March, adds Mr Granger.

“This figure can be adjusted up or down depending on weather, drilling date, seed-bed quality, moisture availability and perhaps most importantly, the grower’s own experience on each site.”

“A lower rate of 300-325 seeds/m2 could suffice if drilling into an “onion bed” in March, but where forced to drill into April due to weather or agronomic reasons, pushing up to 400 seeds/m2 may be more appropriate.”

Maintain tiller numbers

Balanced crop nutrition plays an important role in tiller survival and in the past, growers have been reluctant to increase nitrogen application rates in spring malting barley crops through fear of exceeding maltsters’ grain nitrogen limits.

“However, the latest Recommended List varieties produce more tillers and higher yields, so in some situations additional nitrogen is required to maintain tiller numbers and maximise crop potential,” says Mr Granger.

In our own trials, we have seen a benefit of upping nitrogen rates from a standard seed bed application of 120kg/ha to 150kg/ha, with the additional 30kg/ha applied at tillering (see Chart 3).

“This was previously considered a risk to malting quality, but due to higher yields diluting the additional nitrogen taken up by the plants, this can be done without exceeding grain N percentage limits for malt distilling of 1.65%.”

Limagrain trials have also shown that additional nitrogen can certainly be beneficial to maximise yield potential in poorly established or lower tillering crops.

“In addition to nitrogen, phosphate and phosphite will promote rooting and micronutrients such as manganese will help keep plants healthy, all reducing the risk of tiller loss through the spring,” says Mr Granger.

He points out that further work is required on the relationship between fertiliser applications, grain N and possible defects such as skinning and screenings. As a result, Limagrain is a partner in the new AHDB project, “Updating nitrogen and sulphur recommendations in spring barley”.

The East Anglian Game & Country Fair is an annual two day, family event taking place on the 28th and 29th April 2018. It is held in the grounds of Euston Estate, Thetford, and in it’s 15th year, has established itself as the region’s largest Game and Country Fair. The show offers a fantastic day out for the whole family and is proud to welcome world class events and attractions.

Come and join the LG Seeds team to discuss all aspects of Gamecover and for advice regarding conservation crops. Whether you are a Gamekeeper, Landowner or just a general enthusiast, our team offers a comprehensive wealth of knowledge to help you get the most from your crop.

Check back here for details on where to find us and a sneak peak! You can read more about the event here.

In the meantime, why not download our HiBird Gamecover and Conservation Crops Guide here?

New varieties of fodder beet are breaking the barriers for dry matter yield, according to the latest trial results published in February 2018 by Limagrain UK. Led by fodder beet variety Brick, that was commercially launched in 2017, dry matter yields of high-performing varieties are now exceeding 20 tonnes/ha with Brick achieving a DM yield of 22.4tonnes/ha.

“We’ve run trials on our site in Lincolnshire on 14 commercially available varieties of fodder beet for more than 10 years,” says Limagrain’s fodder crop manager Martin Titley, “but in the past two years we have seen significant increases in dry matter yields coming from new genetics. Plant breeders have really challenged the convention and pushed yields to new levels.”

Trial results show that Brick yielded 18% more dry matter than the control Magnum, followed by another recent addition to Limagrain, Tarine, which yielded 5% more than the control.

“These varieties with high dry matter yields are adding significant feed value to the crop,” adds Mr Titley. “And the gap is widening between varieties. The difference in dry matter yields is 8 tonnes/ha between Brick and the worst performing variety. This is estimated to have a feed value of nearly £900/ha, based on AHDB’s relative feed value calculator that costs the dry matter in fodder beet at £111.69/tonne.”

Mr Titley also highlights the advantages of ‘clean’ varieties of fodder beet. “Fodder beets that show cleanliness at harvest are beneficial where the crop is harvested and fed, but there are no washing or chopping facilities available,” he adds. “The variety Robbos, with clean, yellow roots at harvest is very beneficial here, and it also has a lower dry matter content of 19% that encourages intakes.”

Sown in April, fodder beet is harvested from October onwards and can be fed in a total mixed ration or ad lib with maize silage, or it can be grazed in situ.

Although there are no recommended lists for fodder beets, Limagrain publishes its annual trial data to help growers make informed decisions.

“This year’s results will catch the eye of experienced and new fodder beet growers,” adds Mr Titley. “For the same growing costs, farmers can produce significantly more dry matter per hectare by opting for the higher yielding fodder beet varieties.”

The 2018 Trial Results Guide will be out soon, but we have released the Fodder Beet results which can be downloaded here

We have always been enthusiastic supporters of UK pulses and UK pulse growers, and continue to do all we can to promote and support growers in offering varieties that perform on farm and meet market requirements, says George Hunter, pulses product manager with Limagrain UK.

“The success of this approach can be seen in the varieties that we have on offer in this year’s PGRO Recommended List (RL).” Demonstrating this on farm, last year Tim Lamyman of Worlaby Farms Lincolnshire set a new world record yield for combining peas of 6.47 t/ha, at an average of 15.35% moisture with his 8.23ha crop of LG Stallion, large blue peas.

The last world record for combined peas in Europe was 5.21 t/ha from a crop in Ireland.

Harvested on the 25th August, the crop performed well throughout the season as a result of a planned programme of targeted inputs and attention to detail.

Recommended in 2017 large blue pea, LG Stallion was the field pea variety of choice, selected for its high yield potential.

George Hunter, points out that that the variety has high yield potential, combined with good standing and downy mildew tolerance levels. The variety has a similar maturity to Prophet.

Importantly, large blue peas such as Crackerjack are able to secure premiums for their green colour. This ability to retain coour means that LG Stallion can be sold for micronizing- where the peas are rolled and toasted for animal feed, and for the human consumption market for mushy peas to packets of split peas for use in soups or sauces.

Limagrain UK’s Ron Granger offers the latest advice, based on data generated from the breeder’s extensive trials programme designed to challenge traditional approaches.

1. Choose the right variety

The key to upping spring barley yields is achieving high final head counts and choosing a variety with a greater tillering ability can help improve numbers.

First on the AHDB Recommended List in 2009, Concerto has a lower tillering ability than newer varieties such as Sienna, which was first listed in 2015. This is a trend that continues to be seen in ongoing Limagrain trials.

It is a significant contributory factor in the 10% uptick in yield seen from the top varieties added to the AHDB Recommended List over the last 10 years.

Varieties, such as Concerto, can still achieve high yields if a final target tiller count of about 775/m2 is met, but a cultivar that initially produces more tillers will compensate better for tiller loss in stressful conditions, helping crops reach their full potential in most years.

2. Drill at the right time

Drilling date is vital in getting spring barley off to the best possible start and has a major influence on final yield. Earlier drilling through late February and up to mid-March has been shown to boost yield potential compared to sowings in mid-March to early April (see Chart 1).

However, it should be stressed that waiting for the right conditions for drilling is more important than a definitive drill date to ensure rapid emergence and early growth.

3. Use the right seed rate

As newer spring barley varieties generally have stronger tillering ability, careful attention should be paid to seed rates to optimise plant populations and hit target head numbers.

Limagrain trials comparing variety seed rates over various seasons and regions suggest that with the more vigorous, higher tillering varieties, the optimum seed rate is 350 seeds/m2 when drilling in ideal conditions around mid-March.

This figure can be adjusted up or down depending on weather, drilling date, seed-bed quality, moisture availability and perhaps most importantly, the grower’s own experience on each site.

A lower rate of 300-325 seeds/m2 could suffice if drilling into an “onion bed” in March, but where forced to drill into April due to weather or agronomic reasons, pushing up to 400 seeds/m2 may be more appropriate.

4. Blackgrass control

Much of the recent jump in spring barley area can be attributed to growers trying to control blackgrass on heavy land and some experts have advocated very high seed rates in these situations to provide maximum weed suppression.

However, it is Limagrain’s view that with many of the top-yielding varieties, which inherently produce higher tiller numbers, a seed rate of 350-375 seeds/m2 provides the correct balance between maximum competitiveness and optimum plant population.

Extra care should be taken on heavy fertile sites, where excessive seed rates can result in increased lodging and disease risk, leading to increased plant growth regulator and fungicide requirements and costs.

5. Maintain tiller numbers
Balanced crop nutrition plays an important role in tiller survival and in the past, growers have been reluctant to increase nitrogen application rates in spring malting barley crops through fear of exceeding maltsters’ grain nitrogen limits.

However, the latest AHDB Recommended List varieties produce more tillers and higher yields, so in some situations additional nitrogen is required to maintain tiller numbers and maximise crop potential.

In trials, Limagrain has seen a benefit of upping nitrogen rates from a standard seed bed application of 120kg/ha to 150kg/ha, with the additional 30kg/ha applied at tillering (see Chart 2).

This was previously considered a risk to malting quality, but due to higher yields diluting the additional nitrogen taken up by the plants, this can be done without exceeding grain N percentage limits for malt distilling of 1.65% (see Chart 3).

Limagrain trials have also shown that additional nitrogen can certainly be beneficial to maximise yield potential in poorly established or lower tillering crops.

In addition to nitrogen, phosphate and phosphite will promote rooting and micronutrients such as manganese will help keep plants healthy, all reducing the risk of tiller loss through the spring.

TIP: Always refer to latest RB209 Guide.

There are two main premium outlets for large blue peas; the first is micronizing – where peas are processed and toasted giving  better nutritional value in products such as animal feed.

The second is for the human consumption market, where they find their way into anything from tins of mushy peas to packets of split peas for use in soups and sauces.

“In recent seasons, the large blue has been perceived as the poorer relative of the marrowfat pea, with more attractive contracts tempting growers into planting marrowfat types each spring,” says Limagrain UK’s pulse product manager George Hunter.

“That trend is being reversed, however, with a glut of marrowfats trimming margins and a weaker sterling reopening export markets on the continent for large blues.”

Franek Smith of Dunns (Long Sutton) Ltd and president of the British Edible Pulses Association (BEPA), agrees but underlines the importance of quality of large blues in order to meet end-user requirements.

“From an industry perspective, quality on large blue (Green) peas is paramount. 2017 was a very difficult, protracted harvest for peas with constantly changing weather – ideal conditions to affect the quality of peas.”

“We have seen a range of values for large blues, anywhere from the most bleached being worth only animal feed, up to £170 ex-farm for canning. The best quality samples, which have been used for export or micronizing have reached as much as £235 ex farm – this is mainly due to the lack of availability. Growers should focus on quality of produce as (this year specifically) it has affected the price by as much as £65/t.”

George Hunter points out that whichever market the crop is destined for, the appearance of the final product is critical to maximising returns.

He adds that with current premiums £50-£90/t above the feed pea price, there is a big incentive to grow for micronizing or human consumption for much improved gross margins.

“Although some select on size, for most processors it is all about the colour of the pea and the first thing growers can do to ensure they get the right colour is to choose the right variety,” he explains.

Franek Smith agrees. “Certain varieties retain their colour much better than others and this is only proven in difficult years. Generally, for the micronizing industry, the greenest peas are used. They are steamed and rolled into flakes for inclusion in animal feed. No artificial colours are added, so colour is paramount as the customer buying the product expects to see a certain level of green.”

“Another important market for the best quality peas is for splitting; this is to produce green split peas. These are used in packets, for snacks and even into Europe for soups and casseroles – again, the customer expects all the peas to be green as it’s the name of the product!”

Colourful genetics

The large blue pea market has been dominated by a handful of varieties over recent years – namely Daytona, Campus and Prophet – but newer additions such as Kingfisher have genetic traits that aid all-important colour retention.

Added to the PGRO Recommended List in 2016, it not only has a good all-round agronomic package, but has an inherent ability to maintain its green colour if weather delays harvest, increasing the risk of colour bleaching.

Andrew Bourne of Kent-based seeds merchant T Denne & Sons says that its [Kingfisher’s] standing ability is also a major plus, as lodging can cause pea losses through pod shatter and lower pods being subjected to damp conditions, staining the peas inside.

“Kingfisher stood well in difficult conditions this year [harvest 2017] and caught the eye alongside other leading varieties.

“As it has good genetic colour retention to start with, and can be harvested in a timely fashion, it represents a good risk management tool for growers when selecting a large blue pea variety for 2018,” he adds.

Encouraging results

Yorkshire-based feed processor I’Ansons uses micronized large blue peas in its rations and the company’s grain buyer Howard Jackson selects largely on sample colour and to a lesser extent, size.

The firm trialled a small quantity of Kingfisher for its suitability alongside other varieties during 2017 and he says in difficult year, signs were encouraging for the variety.

“It yielded on par with [fully recommended variety] Campus, producing a well-coloured and bold sample. It’s certainly a variety that we will look out for again next year,” explains Mr Jackson.

He adds that the firm pay a healthy contract price for good quality large blues and advises growers to communicate with customers such as I’Ansons to seek contracts and be clear on market demands.