Delayed or late drilling of winter wheat, considered to be from mid-October onwards, is now common practice on farms today particularly for black-grass management, in a second wheat situation and for those who are drilling wheat after sugar beet or potatoes.

However, late drilling presents a unique set of challenges to the crop points out Limagrain UK’s arable technical manager Ron Granger.

“Soils will inevitably become cooler and wetter as winter draws in so it is important to proceed with care and consideration in order to get the crop well established.”

“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, yet this is totally avoidable.”

“Characteristics of wheats that suit this slot are strong tillering and vigorous, combined with good rooting attributes and a semi prostrate growth habit in the winter.”

He adds that as a consequence, crops drilled later will not have been in the ground as long as those drilled earlier in the autumn, so the chosen variety needs to be quick off the blocks in the spring, once growing conditions are favourable.

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

“The theory is not complicated, he notes. “This is why LG Skyscraper suits the blackgrass situation over a variety like LG Sundance which is high tillering with a late plant development in the spring.”

Limagrain has conducted a range of trials over the years looking at which varieties suit the later-drilled slot – which includes both winter and spring wheat varieties sown in the later drilling situation after the end of October.

“LG Skyscraper was by far the most consistent performer in this position, delivering high yield potential continuously over very differing climatic seasons.”

Data from several seasons of work also 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, says Mr Granger.

He also 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 are 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.”

“Effective seed treatments for root disease and insect control, especially if wheat Bulb fly is a concern, alongside good slug control should be considered as valuable tools for good establishment, especially in known high-risk situations.”

He notes that later drilled varieties often have the advantage of requiring lower inputs and may not require an earlier autumn herbicide.

“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.”

Ron Granger recognises that spring wheat varieties do have a place in the rotation for late drilling, especially in a black-grass situation, but points out that some winter wheat varieties can be grown through to the end of January without significant yield penalties.

After January some spring wheat varieties come into their own regarding yield performance, and should be a serious consideration if black-grass is the major threat on farm, he says.

With second wheats, the added pressure from high-levels of take-all inoculum and eyespot are important to consider when choosing a variety for this very testing situation, he points out. “Not all wheat varieties perform in this very testing situation so its important growers choose the correct varieties”

Again LG Skyscraper has performed well in this situation, highlighted by the AHDB Recommended List and more significantly by good on farm performance.

In a second wheat situation, with a known eyespot history, varieties that carry the Rendezvous PcH1 gene; will secure a greater resistance for ensuring final yield potential.

With the top oilseed rape varieties on the 2021/22 AHDB Recommended List, and some of the highest yielding wheat and barley varieties, there is much interest in Limagrain UK’s breeding programme.

In response to this, last autumn Limagrain invested in a wide range of new demonstration variety trials sites, whilst also maintaining those that were already a well recognised feature of the farming landscape – one of which is located just opposite the Murrayshall Hotel, outside Perth hosted by S. Cameron courtesy of W. Glen & Son.

“We put the plots in hoping that by this summer we would once again be able to come together for what we believe is a really valuable exercise in helping growers make the best informed variety choices, and one that has not been possible for the last year,” said William Charlton, Limagrain UK arable marketing manager.

“We were delighted therefore in the interest from both growers and the seed trade to our open day at the end of July, where we had the opportunity to showcase our Northern variety portfolio and share the results of our work on how to get the best out of these varieties on-farm.”

OSR Portfolio
Key messages to come from Limagrain UK’s arable development officer, Liam Wilkinson, were Limagrain’s OSR genetics are the strongest and most robust that any breeder has seen for a long time.

“Our focus on using genetics to mitigate risk in the oilseed rape crop has been very successful and is fully reflected in the current RL for the North where LG varieties hold the top six positions.”

Within the breeding programme we have been able to focus on issues relevant more specifically to northern conditions and challenges; for example none of our varieties have less than a score of 6 for light leaf spot and our trait-loaded approach offers pod shatter, turnip yellows virus (TuYV) and RLM7 resistances.

These leading varieties have proven themselves consistently over seasons and continue to deliver the yields that growers have come to expect.

In summary:
Aurelia is the top yielding variety for the north at 106% of control. Aurelia is a fully loaded hybrid combining genetic TuYV, pod shatter and RLM7 phoma resistance with the highest light leaf spot rating available on the Recommended List.

LG Aviron is Limagrain’s newest fully loaded hybrid to receive full UK recommendation and joins the RL as joint highest yielding variety at 105% of control. LG Aviron has shown its robustness and consistency throughout testing and is a very vigorous hybrid that can establish well in challenging seedbeds.

Acacia is the highest yielding conventional variety available on the Recommended List at 104% control. Acacia offers key agronomic characteristics of strong autumn and spring vigour, solid disease resistance and short, stiff straw, combined with a high oil content.

Aardvark has early flowering, high vigour and the best disease package out of the recommended conventional varieties with 103% yield for the North.

Aspire is the only recommended conventional variety with crucial TuYV resistance. Aspire is a short robust plant type with very good straw characteristics. A solid disease profile and TuYV resistance means
Aspire fits the early drilling option perfectly, with its slower speed of development.

Limagrain has produced a variety guide for its OSR Portfolio. This covers information on drilling dates, traits, and much more. Download using the link at the bottom of this page.

*2021/22 AHDB Recommended List North

Cereals Plots
One of the stars of the show, LG Astronomer, is an exciting new biscuit wheat that offers one of the most complete agronomic packages of any winter wheat available on the AHDB Recommend List for 2021/22.

“Because of its high specific weight (77.8 kg/hl), all-round agronomic package, and strong yield it ticks a lot of boxes for on-farm security, which is what growers are looking for,” says Limagrain UK’s arable technical manager, Ron Granger.

Other new biscuit wheats on display were LG Prince and LG Illuminate.

“LG Illuminate is popular in the north and has performed very well in the earlier drilling scenario and has a solid specific weight of 76.6 kg/hl, combined with good sprouting resistance.”

“It meets specification for distilling and export, as well as being a biscuit wheat, so it offers northern growers a wide range of market opportunities.”

LG Prince, which is the highest yielding biscuit variety on the RL, is suitable for early and late drilling spots, and also performs well as a second wheat, he says.

“These are great packages; we know that UK farmers are very good at growing biscuit wheats and get really good results, but any of these varieties yield well enough to be grown as feed wheats too.”

Moving on to Group 4 wheats, Mr Granger points out LG Skyscraper is still the highest-yielding winter wheat available on the RL, and continues to deliver these high yields across all situations.

“It has bold grain quality with a high specific weight, and it is widely used by distillers and in soft grists, giving LG Skyscraper multiple market outlets.”

“The variety ticks all the boxes; it works in a first wheat or second wheat slot and because it is suitable for late drilling and quick off the blocks in terms of speed of growth, it is good if you are dealing with a black-grass situation.”

Its greatest asset is the fact its an earlier maturing variety, an important attribute for northern growers.

“Well established soft wheat LG Spotlight also continues to be popular as a soft wheat variety for distilling, with excellent grain quality for securing end use premiums.” Its high stable Hagberg combined with sprouting resistance and a great specific weight should not be underestimated for the north, where harvest can be catchy at the best of times.

Also on show were new promising Group 4 Candidate hard wheat varieties, LG Farrier and LG Typhoon.

“LG Typhoon has potentially one of the highest septoria resistance scores which makes it suitable for the north, and fits across wide drilling windows, including earlier drilling.”

“LG Farrier has consistently produced high yields combined with an excellent specific weight and high stable Hagberg , and has a good resistance profile for mildew and rusts.”

Of Limagrain’s winter barley varieties, LG Mountain is still at the top end of the highest yielding 2-rows, at 104% of control and appears to be the one to beat in the north (105) with its earlier maturity being valuable for northern growers.

“LG Mountain has consistently produced these high yields, since it was brought to the market in 2016, right through to 2020 – which is now recognised to be one of the most challenging growing seasons for many years.”

“This is a really important attribute in a variety, as growers know that whatever the season throws at them, it is able to cope.”

“Over this time, LG Mountain has also demonstrated its ability to produce high yields in both light and heavy soils, showing its flexibility within the rotation.”

“This excellent yield resilience can be attributed to the variety’s good agronomic characteristics of short straw, good disease resistance, earlier maturity and great grain quality,” he adds.

For the last two seasons, there has been so little opportunity to have any shared experiences or learnings, so the chance to come together this year has been welcomed.

Ron Granger

Adhering to Covid regulations, small groups visited several stations across the site; each one focusing on different wheat types.

With the increasing loss of crop protection products and the challenges thrown up by unpredictable weather events, interest in untreated yield has been growing, becoming almost more important for many growers than treated plots.

One of the stars of the show drawing the attention of the visitors, was LG Astronomer – an exciting new biscuit wheat that offers one of the most complete agronomic packages of any winter wheat available on the AHDB Recommend List for 2021/22.

“Because of its high specific weight (77.8 kg/hl), all-round agronomic package, and strong yield – in the east it scored 102% – it ticks a lot of boxes for on-farm security, which is what growers are looking for,” said Limagrain’s arable technical manager, Ron Granger.

“It is classified as a biscuit wheat but should not be pigeon-holed as one, as it yields as a barn filler feed wheat too.”

Other new biscuit wheats on display were LG Prince and LG Illuminate.

LG Prince , which is the highest yielding biscuit variety on the RL, does particularly well in the east, scoring 104% of control, and is suitable for early and late drilling spots, and also performs well as a second wheat, he said.

“LG Illuminate is popular in the north and has a solid specific weight of 76.6 kg/hl.”

“It meets specification for distilling and export, as well as being a biscuit wheat, so it offers growers a wide range of market opportunities.”

“These are great packages; we know that UK farmers are very good at growing biscuit wheats and get really good results, but any of these varieties yield well enough to be grown as feed wheats too.”

Moving on to Group 4 wheats, Mr Granger pointed out that LG Skyscraper is still the highest-yielding winter wheat available on the RL, and continues to deliver these high yields across all situations.

“The variety is a KWS Santiago cross, and it ticks all the boxes; it works in a first wheat or second wheat slot and because it is suitable for late drilling and quick off the blocks in terms of speed of growth, it is good if you are dealing with a black-grass situation.”

“It has bold grain quality with a high specific weight, and it is widely used by distillers and in soft grists, giving LG Skyscraper multiple market outlets.”

Also on show were new promising Group 4 Candidate hard varieties, LG Farrier and LG Typhoon.

“LG Farrier has consistently high yields, and a good resistance profile for mildew and rusts, whilst LG Typhoon has potentially one of the highest septoria resistance scores, and fits across wide drilling windows, including earlier drilling.”

Mr Granger pointed out that Group 1 milling wheat, Crusoe, remains very popular with both millers and farmers, and is holding up well agronomically too.

Mr Granger said: “It has high protein, good quality grain and a stable Hagberg, alongside an excellent disease package that includes a 9 for yellow rust – which has held up well despite the changing pathogens.”

Limagrain’s varietal offering for Group 2 is also looking strong, with varieties such as LG Detroit and newer material waiting in the wings

LG Detroit has orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM) resistance, it works as a first or second wheat, and looks to be competitive with KWS Siskin on yield.

“We are currently assessing a number of different seed rates to build a robust data set, so we can see which gives the best results for farmers in all sorts of conditions.”

The breeder is also looking at specialist wheats such as white wheat, and has some at an early generational stage,

“Sprouting can be a real problem in white wheats, but this one is promising because it has better sprouting resistance and a good Hagberg,” explained Phil Tailby, senior wheat breeder.

This strong breeding line continues with the introduction of four new Group 3 biscuit varieties for the 2021/22 AHDB Recommended List: LG Astronomer, LG Prince, LG Illuminate and LG Quasar.

These new varieties offer an improvement in yield potential in the biscuit sector, combined with good agronomic attributes of stiff straw, good disease resistance ratings for the rusts, Septoria tritici and Orange Wheat Blossom Midge (OWBM) resistance.

“Very importantly, these should not be just considered as solely biscuit wheats, as they all have the additional end market of potential for distilling and two of them also have uks export opportunities on top, for a full marketing outlet opportunity,” says Limagrain’s arable technical manager, Ron Granger.

“A breeder getting a couple of varieties onto the Recommended List is quite an achievement, but getting four new varieties listed in the Group 3 biscuit wheat category is very unusual, and an achievement that should be acknowledged,” he adds.

Each variety is different, offering a range of agronomic characters suitable for particular farm situations, to allow for optimum performance.

For full AHDB Recommended List 2021/22 dataset, see: ahdb.org.uk/rl

LG Diablo is now the highest yielding spring barley variety with full approval for both brewing and malt distilling, on the 2021/22 AHDB Recommended List.

Ron Granger, Limagrain’s arable technical manager, shares the key attributes of the variety and how to get the best establishment in the spring.

LG Diablo sits amongst the top yielders on this year’s Recommended List, yielding 102% of control. Significantly, its yields are highest in the key malting barley growing areas of the east and north (103%).

LG Diablo’s untreated yield remains towards the top of the yield table, showing the robustness of the variety’s agronomic package and disease resistance ratings.

LG Diablo has a very good specific weight, 66.9 kg/hl, which is important in the malting industry, as malting is a volume-based process and low specific weights cause reduced throughput in the processing plants.

Growers with low specific weight parcels will incur penalties if specifications are not met, particularly in times of over-production.

LG Diablo’s 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 to achieve higher sugar extraction rates from the malt, and the ability to create more alcohol.

LG Diablo offers straw characteristics similar to RGT Planet: medium in height (72cm), with good lodging and brackling resistance.

Now that the variety has been given the green light by the industry for both brewing and distilling, LG Diablo’s future is very bright as it takes its place as a key variety in the sector – meeting the requirements of both growers and end users.

Top tips for spring barley establishment

1. Time of drilling

Wait for the right conditions for drilling – when both weather and/ or soil conditions allow for good seedbed preparation combined with rising soil and air temperatures, to ensure rapid emergence and establishment.

Limagrain work shows that earlier drilling in the spring encourages higher yield potential, mainly on lighter, free draining land that will dry and warm up faster than heavier, wetter soil types.

Earlier drilling on these less moisture retentive soils will allow for greater plant root development, ensuring a higher tiller number survival when plants suffer stress in a drought situation.

Drilling early significantly increases the risk of disease, so consider varieties with strong disease resistance for this situation.

2. Seed rate

Limagrain’s seed rate trials over various seasons and regions, show that the optimum seed rate for LG Diablo is 350 seeds/m2 when drilling into ideal conditions around mid-March.

This figure can be adjusted up or down depending on weather, drilling date, seedbed quality, moisture availability and perhaps most importantly, the grower’s own experience on individual sites.

A lower rate of 300-325 seeds/m2 would suffice if drilling into an “onion bed” in March.

However, when forced to drill into April, due to the weather or for agronomic reasons such as blackgrass control, pushing up to 400-450 seeds/m2 is advisable.

Establishment is important but maintaining a high tiller number is the priority for ensuring high yield potential – early nutrition/ PGR and fungicide applications, all have an important part to play.

The desire to push the crop was balanced against the need to sell it, and as it was destined for malting, ensuring low nitrogen (N) was key, reveals David, adding that the farm is in a nitrogen vulnerable zone (NVZ).

As such, the crop only received the farm practice amount of 130 kg N/ha, applied at planting, along with an early application of phosphate, potash and sulphur.

However, he points out that it is not only the amount of fertiliser in one season, it is the whole-farm perspective which plays a role in achieving the best possible crops.

LG Diablo spring barley

“The high health index of the soil the crop was grown in, alongside the strength of our rotations, will have meant there was a lot of soil N available, and this will have contributed to keeping the plants growing towards their potential.

“Our rotations are based around growing potatoes one year in six; we grow winter and spring barley and we have a suckler beef herd for finishing.”

Having livestock on the farm allows him to have grass in the rotation, and the manure from the cattle is also spread, which helps build soil organic matter.

Planted on 25^th March, the LG Diablo was conventionally drilled into clay loam soil with a medium to high tilth, that had been ploughed and received one pass.

“It was rolled to consolidate and maintain moisture before the drought, and so had a chance to get established.”

Having grown LG Diablo for four seasons, David and his agronomist Iain Anderson understand the variety’s needs for attention to detail, for it to be a star performer.

“Because of the spring drought, we wanted to make sure stress levels were kept to a minimum, so we used trace elements and biostimulants alongside growth regulators.

“The seed, sourced from his seed rep Douglas Bonn of Nickerson Seeds, had been treated with manganese, and we topped that up to make sure it was not short.

“We did tissue analysis to identify any shortages, which is better than waiting for symptoms of a condition to appear, and then treated the crop accordingly.”

A biostimulant was used to improve amino acid uptake, and David noticed the difference in crop development between those which received the treatment and those which did not, as they were unable to access nutrients.

Crop protection was tailored according to the field and IPM thresholds, and he used fungicide to maximise green leaf coverage for biomass, which helped push yield.

David Bell in his LG Diablo crop

The crop was harvested at the end of August 2020.

Although he enters the YEN competition, David insists it is not the whole story, as across the whole farm there are variable yields, and he wants to improve the overall farm performance, not just the one field.

“The YEN is about sharing information between growers to help us improve, and the metrics help you see the benefits.

“We use programmes such as the YEN, plus trusted and independent knowledge platforms like AHDB and SRUC, to improve our knowledge. We then try out new ideas and strategies to see what works.”

For 2021 Harvest, David will be progressing into reduced tillage and a direct drilling system where possible.

“Thanks to microbial activity, nitrogen mineralisation and high organic matter, we will be able to transition to direct drilling, although the spring crops will need some increased tilth for establishment.”

When it comes to choice of which spring barley to grow, David points out that LG Diablo is in demand by the maltsters, and his decisions on which spring barley variety to grow are very much based on what he can sell.

“It’s a quality product and the market wants it.”

Douglas Bonn of Nickerson Seeds, notes that forward thinking from a whole-farm perspective pays dividends on crop yield and quality.

“The application of farmyard manure over time, has built up inherent soil fertility as the biology has improved.

“I particularly noticed on walking the crop, that it had high tiller density which translated into a high yield and good quality, with a nitrogen level of 1.48.

“The physical character of the grain was excellent, with no issues getting the whole crop accepted by the maltsters.”

At 7.23 t/ha, it also topped the list for untreated yield.

“Approved as a malting variety, LG Diablo yielded more than the feed varieties,” reveals agronomist Donald Paterson of Scottish Agronomy.

The variety has also been given full approval for brewing and distilling in the UK.

Donald Paterson

“This means that growers opting for LG Diablo will get to choose whether they prefer to grow the crop as malting, brewing or feed barley.”

This effectively means deciding which N rate to apply, says Mr Paterson, explaining that malting barley receives lower levels of N applied up to the three-leaf stage of crop growth, rather than at later growth stages to minimise late nitrogen uptake into the grain.

“Feed barley, on the other hand, can often justify slightly higher rates of N.”

It’s important to recognise that spring barley is a fast-growing crop, and if key nutrition or micronutrients are deficient at any point in the crops’ life, yield potential will be compromised, says Ron Granger, Limagrain’s arable technical manager.

Mr Granger refers to work carried out over several years by Limagrain UK, on high yielding malting crops, that demonstrates the benefit of using higher nitrogen rates of up to 150 kg/ha based on a split nitrogen application of a standard 120 kg/ha in the seedbed, plus an additional 30 kg/ha at tillering, when compared to a standard seedbed application of 120 kg/ha.

“This approach produced higher yields, without exceeding grain nitrogen percentage.”

“Additional nitrogen input appears to be beneficial on the better soil types, but care should be taken on lower yielding and lighter soil types that are more prone to stress.”

“In these situations, the majority of the standard nitrogen regime should be targeted early in the plant’s life to secure better root growth for enhanced tiller survival.”

He points out that the newer, higher yielding varieties respond well to the higher nitrogen levels, as nitrogen grain content dilution is achievable.

“Macro-nutrients such as phosphate, potash, magnesium and sulphur, have also proved to be beneficial to the barley crop and should be applied either in the seedbed or soon after drilling, to promote strong rooting and early plant growth.”

Tissue analysis of the young growing crop is always useful for indicating any shortfalls of nutrition and is relatively inexpensive, if targeting a very high yielding crop, he adds.

“Additional micronutrients such as; manganese and copper applied at the stem extension phase of growth, also help to ensure a healthy canopy and good ear fertility, and in turn, help to secure high grain number, for maximum yield potential.”

“Macronutrients can be applied independently with other key inputs, or as in many cases, a multi-nutrient product.”

Mr Granger also recommends early PGR applications on crops, to promote additional rooting and strong, uniform tillering.

He adds that Limagrain agronomy work suggests the application of 2 fungicides should be targeted, if aiming for high yield potential from larger biomass crops.

Always refer to latest RB209 Guide.

Consider higher nitrogen rates when conditions are conducive for high yield potential.

Nutrition at the foundation stage and through the plant’s life, is essential for ensuring high tiller number for high final ear counts.