Selected conventional varieties also exhibit the good early vigour that will enable them to grow past the potential damage that can be caused by cabbage stem flea beetle, says Liam Wilkinson technical oilseed rape specialist, for plant breeders Limagrain UK.

Conventional rape varieties account for 35 – 40% of all crops, a smaller proportion of the national crop than for some time, he adds. “They have ceded the majority of the market to hybrids, which traditionally offer greater vigour and the opportunity to ‘stack’ beneficial traits such as resistance to pod shatter and disease.” Amongst Limagrain’s conventional varieties both Acacia and Amarone show similar characteristics, he notes. “Growers are looking for vigorous growth in the autumn and to establish a canopy as quickly as possible so the crop gets away from the adult beetles.” “Both Acacia and Amarone have good initial vigour, they quickly establish the three or four true leaves they need to reduce the risk from grazing damage by the adult CSFB.” “With new conventionals Annika and Amarone also offering TuYV resistance, they can to help form the basis of an IPM strategy or those looking to reduce reliance on autumn insecticides.” “They go on in the spring to reach eight true leaves and around 8cm collar with a 15cm tap root quickly, which helps protect them against larval damage”.

“One key to helping all oilseeds avoid damage is to drill according to moisture levels rather than the calendar,” he adds. “Drill for the soil conditions – you must have enough moisture to get the plants off to a good start, so they can get going and keep going.” “That’s not the be all and end all of it, because the beetle and their larvae still pose a risk. But hitting these growth thresholds gives the crop the best chance of withstanding any damage.”

Two Farmers who continue to grow conventional varieties are Tim Parton, a well-known advocate for regenerative agriculture, based in South Staffordshire, and Andy Roberts, who farms on the Staffordshire/Shropshire border. Tim grows around 40 hectares of a three variety blend at the 300ha Brewood Park Farm, South Staffordshire.

That blend includes Acacia and Annika and he saves his own seed so the mixture he sows is progressively better adapted to his farm: “By combining several varieties I get stronger disease resistance which helps keep costs down. At the same time, those three varieties are adapting to my farm’s soil and conditions.” “When they are senescing they send endophytes into the seeds that are ready to be sown into the environment they have been grown in, which improves plant genes for the future.” They fit into a six year rotation alongside milling wheat, spring barley, spring beans, lupins and grass leys used for making haylage. cover crops are put in ahead of all spring crops and grazed by sheep – or ‘mobile composting units’ as Tim calls them. He aims to direct drill the crop with a companion crop in the first week of September, and uses a high seed rate to achieve 100 plants/m2.

The companion crop is normally a mixture of crimson, white and burseem clover. He also adds molybdenum, sulphur, boron and manganese in the seedbed: “The young plants will synthesise sugars and will not be attracting flea beetles”. Total N supplied is around 170kgs/ha, much of that being supplied as foliar applications in response to the results of frequent tissue and sap testing. Average yields have been around 5t/ha over the years, although cold springs have reduced that in recent years.

On the Staffordshire/Shropshire border Andy Roberts grows oilseeds in a rotation formed around winter wheat and spring barley, with breaks of either oilseed or potatoes. The 320ha Lower Barns Farm, Pattingham, also supports a small suckler herd. Across much of the farm oilseeds are grown one year in six; in areas not suitable for potatoes it may be as frequent as one year in four. This year he sowed over a wider window than normal – from mid-August to the first week of September – working the land with a Sumo Trio and broadcasting the seed off the back so the following roller pressed the seed to achieve good soil-to-seed contact.

In some fields he spreads chicken muck before sowing, working it in with a Vaderstad Carrier, to add both organic matter and nutrients to their mainly sandy loam soils. Seed rates depend on sowing date: “We are sowing earlier these days to avoid flea beetle damage. We sow 60 – 70 seeds/sq m in mid-August and raise that to 80 seeds/sq m in September. “We grow Acacia because we have always used conventionals as they tend to be a bit shorter stemmed, and have good standing ability which makes them easier to harvest. We don’t save seed at the moment, but it is useful to have that option should we want it.” Yields on the farm tend to average around 4t/ha, although last autumn one September-sown field topped 5t/ha. Rising fertilizer prices are forcing a change in his regime this year: “We normally apply between 180- 200kg/ha of nitrogen, but will be dropping that to 150kgs/ha.

“On fields that have received a dose of chicken muck we don’t use anything in the autumn; where muck has not been applied we use 30kgs/ha at planting. “We believe the crop needs some help to get it way from the flea beetle threat.” ANNIKA is well suited to early drilling and has excellent disease resistance, including genetic resistance to Turnip Yellows Virus. It produces a short plant with a stiff stem (scoring 9 for both lodging resistance and stem stiffness) and offers high yield potential (45.3% oil). ACACIA is the highest-yielding conventional variety on the AHDB 2021/22 recommended list. It has highly vigorous, robust plants with good stem strength and disease resistance. It rates 8 for lodging resistance; 9 for stem stiffness (45.7% oil).

The hike in input costs and grain prices has raised stakes when it comes to optimising nitrogen strategy, particularly for growers targeting quality milling wheat.

Limagrain UK asked the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners from the 2021 Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) Milling Wheat Quality Awards, to explain how they manage nitrogen to maximise both yield and quality. All three growers grew proven Group 1 wheat Crusoe; a variety that has become a firm favourite amongst millers since its launch 11 years ago.

Yorkshire farmer and Gold award winner, Peter Trickett, has been growing Crusoe since 2014, and believes it is suited to his location and soils.

Despite the YEN field getting flooded in November 2020, his Crusoe went on to yield 11.24 t/ha, at 13.2% protein and 337 Hagberg.

“We first grew milling wheat here 20 years ago and in most years the crop has achieved full milling specification.” Variety choice is a key part, but so is the focus on maximising and protecting yield potential and quality by keeping crops standing, giving them sufficient nitrogen, harvesting promptly and drying quickly, he says. Last year’s late September-sown Crusoe received 300 kg N/ha in total, in four splits.

Essex farmer Richard Carr started growing Crusoe in 2013 and is very pleased with how it performs, having achieved milling specification every year.

Richard Carr

His YEN crop produced the highest protein of all entries at 14.1%, plus 369 Hagberg and specific weight of 77.2 kg/hl. “We’ve had several years at 14% protein and Hagbergs are usually in the 300’s.”

He puts much of the success down to the farm’s silty clay soils and rotation especially, as break crops such as lucerne and beans can leave high levels of residual nitrogen.

His continuous wheats typically receive 200 kg N/ha, whilst most first wheats usually get 170-190 kg N/ha, in four splits.

In Suffolk, farm manager Edward Vipond turned to Crusoe in a bid to help stabilise grain proteins. Mr Vipond says “We’ve found it is easier to achieve the protein we need from Crusoe.” His third placed YEN Crusoe produced a yield of 10.27 t/ha, 12.4% protein, 350 Hagberg and a specific weight of 78.5 kg/hl.

Edward Vipond

In total, the crop received 280 kg N/ha, in four splits from February to early June. “It’s important to keep crops fed throughout the main growing period, so we make sure the gap between splits doesn’t extend to any more than four weeks.

Crusoe is a straightforward variety to grow, with the assurance that it will achieve the protein content that millers require.”

When Yorkshire farmer Tony Bell started growing LG Skyscraper two years ago, he did so hoping the variety would be up to the challenge of his lighter soils, not ideally suited to high-yielding wheat crops.

So far, the variety has lived up to expectations though, performing well in a challenging 2020/21 growing season that featured a wet autumn, followed by cool, very dry conditions during April, then rain in May and June. His 20 ha (49 acres) of LG Skyscraper kept growing well throughout the changing conditions last season, and went on to average more than 10 t/ha, which was around 1 t/ha above the typical average wheat yield for the 265 ha farm near Thirsk. The crop also produced a nice bold grain sample, with specific weight coming in at 73-74 kg/hl. “Our soil type is relatively light, so it’s not the best wheat-growing land, therefore we wanted a variety that would perform well, both in more adverse seasons when it turns very dry, and in wetter years,” Mr Bell says. “From what we’ve seen so far, LG Skyscraper seems to fit the bill.”

He acknowledges the spring growth of all varieties was impacted in some way by last April’s drought, with some very short crops through spring, however LG Skyscraper’s longer straw and strong agronomics proved beneficial. “Because it was so dry, we didn’t need to apply any growth regulators until May, which worked well in the end as crops grew away quickly once rain came during that month. LG Skyscraper did appear to be more resilient and performed better than our other varieties in those conditions,” he says.  

Increasing area

This year, Mr Bell, who manages the farm in partnership with his wife, has therefore increased his area of LG Skyscraper to 34 ha (85 acres), all sown as a first wheat after a range of different break crops that include oilseed rape, potatoes and forage maize. Land typically receives one pass with a Sumo cultivator, before drilling with a Väderstad Rapid. “We generally favour October drilling for our LG Skyscraper, however, drilling dates for the harvest 2022 crop ranged from the 9th to the 23rd of the month, depending on the preceding crop. This year we’re also growing KWS Dawsum and Gleam, which are both September-drilled,” he notes.

Like all wheats on the farm, this year’s crop of LG Skyscraper established well and came through a relatively mild autumn and winter with good yield potential, Mr Bell reports. There was some anxiety over the potential impact of another dry April, however generally he remains happy with how crops are currently looking.

“Despite the mild winter, there haven’t been any particular disease issues,” he adds. Mr Bell recognises LG Skyscraper offers a reasonable disease resistance profile, reflected by its solid untreated yield on the AHDB Recommended List (82% of Control). The variety is rated 7 for mildew and yellow rust, 4.9 for Septoria (three-year rating), and like other leading LG wheats, carries Orange Wheat Blossom Midge (OWBM) resistance.

Last season, the dry, cool conditions in April meant he was able to make a slight saving on fungicides by not applying a T0 spray to his LG Skyscraper, however this year he did apply one. “Given the rise in commodity prices, we wanted to do everything possible to maximise green leaf area and yield-building capacity throughout the season, and the T0 represents good value for money, relative to the high price of wheat.”

He has tried to make savings in other areas though, using the Yara N-Tester to help reduce the amount of fertiliser applied by 30-40 kg N/ha compared with last year, to nearer 170-180 kg N/ha. “Looking at nitrogen response charts, it may end up reducing yield slightly, but if we can get within 300 kg/ha of last year’s yield, I’ll be delighted.”

The yield potential, grain quality and agronomic characteristics of LG Skyscraper have seen it hold its place on one Cambridgeshire farm, as others have fallen by the wayside.

Harry Sperling, who manages a 400 ha (1,000-acre) family farm near Huntingdon with his father, Henry, started growing LG Skyscraper in 2019/20, and has been pleased with its performance so far despite a challenging couple of seasons.

“Previously, we were growing RGT Saki and KWS Firefly, which performed well enough in terms of yield, but we found we were spending too much money on them. Last year we lost a few varieties following the emergence of the Cougar [Septoria] race, so in some ways we’re starting again to find varieties that perform on our farm.”

This year he is growing 35 ha of LG Skyscraper, alongside a range of other winter wheats, mostly hard Group 4’s, and a Group 2. “Our main reason for growing LG Skyscraper is yield,” Mr Sperling says. “But we also like its ability as a second wheat that we can drill late and combine early, to establish oilseed rape straight after.

“We grew it as a second wheat for the first two years, but are trying it as a first wheat this year to see where it fits best on our farm.”

LG Skyscraper’s grain quality characteristics are a further attraction, as most is sold into local soft grade milling markets, which attract a worthwhile premium, he notes. Last year’s crop yielded a respectable 10.42 t/ha in the second wheat slot, with 77-79 kg/hl specific weight and 11.8% protein.

That was despite tricky drilling conditions in the previous autumn and a prolonged cold, dry spell in late spring 2021. “We’ve found LG Skyscraper does cope well in a dry spring. It tillers and roots strongly and takes up nitrogen well, which helps it stay greener for longer. It’s a cracking variety and I’m pretty sure we could get 11 t/ha-plus in a good year.”

Mr Sperling recognises the importance of ensuring there is a high enough plant population to maximise yield, and says seed rates are increased from 400 to nearer 425 seeds/m² for second wheats sown towards the third week in October.

Second wheats typically receive around 250 kg N/ha in four splits, including urea in mid-February, ammonium sulphate and urea in early and late March respectively, then a final ammonium nitrate application in mid-April (timings depending on the season).

Competitive ability

Mr Sperling says LG Skyscraper’s tillering capacity and height also give it a useful competitiveness against black-grass, which can be an issue on the reasonably heavy soils. Land going into winter wheat is typically cultivated with a Väderstad TopDown, followed by a Rexius Heavy Press, then is left for black-grass to germinate before being sprayed off with glyphosate ahead of drilling in the second or third week of October.

“We’re definitely improving black-grass control, although there is some that we have to live with, so the tillering and height of LG Skyscraper certainly help. If black-grass gets too much though, we will put fields into spring cropping.”

This season, he is growing 10 ha of LG Diablo spring barley on the worst black-grass field. “It’s a high yielding, multipurpose variety that delivers low grain nitrogen and high alcohol content, so is good for both farmers and buyers.”

Mr Sperling last grew LG Diablo in 2020, when heavy rain disrupted autumn drilling schedules. “It was a tricky year as spring 2020 turned very dry, but Diablo coped pretty well and it all made malting spec at 1.6% grain nitrogen.

“The LG Diablo was last to harvest in that year, but it worked well in terms of spreading our workload,” he adds. “Winter crops are still clearly the best for gross margin, but we will keep spring barley in the rotation where required.”

Winter hardiness is just one attribute that makes kale an attractive forage crop for cattle producers, according to Limagrain UK’s Scotland-based seed sales specialist John Heaphy

He’s seen great success with overwintering cattle on Scottish units and, more recently, new varieties that have softer and more digestible stems have further improved the feed value and utilisation of the crop. “Poor stem quality has limited the feed value of forage kales in the past and could have accounted for between 60% and 70% of total crop yield,” says Mr Heaphy. “But new varieties have been bred for improved stem digestibility that supports better feed value.”

He adds that, in the past, farmers could face a bit of a dilemma. “A well-grazed kale crop shows good utilisation, but liveweight gain could be limited as the feed value in this stem is poor. But if a proportion of the stem is left, liveweight gains are better but crop utilisation is poor.” Marrow stem kales, like Limagrain UK’s Bombardier, which are highly digestible and have improved dry matter yields and utilisation potential, can overcome this dilemma. “Farmers like to see fields grazed clean and cattle perform well,” says John. “Many farmers are delighted with these new kale varieties.”

Bombardier was introduced in 2018. In trials it showed a digestibility of 72% and a relative dry matter of 18% above the control – worth an extra 1.74 tonnes per hectare. He explains that kale is best drilled in May or early June at a seed rate of 5kg per hectare. Farmers are encouraged to opt for varieties that are club-root tolerant and where a seed treatment can be applied.

A fine-seed bed is also important, to help the crop germinate, establish and achieve good ground cover as quickly as possible. “The sooner the crop gets to the ‘rough-leaf’ stage, the less prone it is to pest damage, predominantly from flea beetle and pigeons,” he says. He adds that kale is proving popular because it helps to reduce the costs of production on Scottish beef units, as well as offering a break crop on units that may also grow cereals in their rotation.

“But the big attraction is its high yields. Average dry matter yields for kale are twice that of stubble turnip crops and it’s also ready for grazing from late October.” One Fife-based suckler beef producer has been growing kale, on and off, for the past 20 years and has consistently grown the crop on his unit since 2011.

Bob Howat overwinters half of his 150 Saler cross cows on kale, at his 500-acre (202-hectare) unit, based between Cupar and St Andrews, which is also home to 1,000 breeding ewes. The farm is predominantly grass, for grazing and silaging; but also grows barley, for cattle feed and kale, for overwintering suckler cows. “Kale’s large leaves and stems are ideal for grazing cattle and it’s ready at a time of year when we need it,” he says, adding that he sees dry matter yields of at least 10 tonnes per hectare.

“And nothing is wasted either. Leaf, stem – it’s all eaten. And the cows look well on it too.” Bob grows 5.5 hectares (14 acres) of Limagrain kale varieties Bombardier and Grampian – a variety bred at the James Hutton Institute– a 50:50 split – each year, which is supplied by East Linton-based Watson Seeds. The crop follows grass – Bob selects a ‘tired’ ley that’s also on a suitable and relatively free-draining site. And he says that seedbed preparation is key to success.

“Achieving good establishment and fast early growth is vital,” says Bob. “Once the crop has grown to the rough-leaf stage and good ground cover has been achieved, it looks after itself. So I give it plenty of attention early on.” He drills the kale, in early May, into a fine seed bed, created by first rotovating the old ley, ploughing and then power harrowing. “We may make two passes with the power harrow if the seed bed isn’t quite fine enough. It’s well worth the effort to achieve the ideal tilth. And after sowing, to improve soil-to-seed contact, we’ll make a pass with a roller.

So far, so good. But Bob says there are two more hurdles or ‘problems’ he must look out for and quickly tackle to ensure the crop’s success. “The first is flea beetle. We keep a close eye out for it and if we see if, we spray straight away. It’s important to control this pest as it can significantly check growth and yield.”

The second challenge faced by the crop is pigeon damage. “Pigeons really like young kale plants. So we use bird scarers until the crop is a little more robust. Once good ground cover has been achieved, and the pigeons can’t see space to land, they lose interest in it.” Bob applies 80 units of liquid nitrogen with the bulk of it put on post emergence, once he can see rows started to emerge, and a second dressing when he can still see space between the rows, just prior to total ground coverage. “Once we get to a good ground cover stage, we know that we can close the gate and walk away, until it’s time to graze it in the autumn.

The crop really does look after itself.” He says that when he goes in with the electric fencing in October, he’s always pleased to see how well and how consistently it’s grown. “We aim for chest height – we’re happy with that.” Cows are strip grazed on the kale and the fence is moved every 12 hours. As nothing else is fed to this block, except some big bales of straw sitting on a trailer on a hard standing, Bob saves on the cost of grass silage and home-grown rolled barley, as well as the additional labour required to feed housed cattle.

“I don’t know what we did in 2020, but some plants stood six feet high and the entire crop – both varieties – yielded better than usual. We grazed 83 cows on it, 10 more than usual, from late October to late January. This was an extra two weeks compared to a more typical year. “The bigger the yield, the more we save on other feed costs,” adds Bob. “And if I get the crop off to a good start, it’ll be trouble-free during the growing season.”

The demand for frozen peas has slightly increased in the last year, this may be down to more people cooking at home during lockdown, or perhaps a more health conscious nation. Either way, it is good news for the sector.

The Yes Peas! campaign has also greatly helped the cause with fantastic coverage for peas on This Morning with Holly and Phil, and articles in national publications such as the Mail and Hello! Magazine.

Limagrain UK were delighted to help support the social media campaign to promote Great British Pea Week back in 2021. By working in a close partnership with our French sister company, Vilmorin Mikado, Limagrain is breeding new varieties which provide improved disease resistance and higher yields.

Growers and processors are looking for varieties with a better agronomic package going forward, especially due to the loss of Wakil XL seed treatment. Limagrain are launching two new afila type vining pea varieties this year; LG Valiant and LG Infinity. LG Valiant is +8 maturity with excellent yield potential, resistance to powdery mildew and medium-to-small sieve size.

LG Infinity is very different because at +17, it would be one of the latest maturing vining pea varieties, which can offer growers a very attractive option. LG Infinity has moderate field resistance to downy mildew, is resistant to powdery mildew and has excellent yield potential.

Limagrain were pleased to host their annual Vining Pea conference in November 2021, attended by farmer groups, processors and agronomists.

The 2-day event included a presentation by Limagrain on their vining pea portfolio and production, a trip to Market Rasen racecourse and a tour of the seed plant at Holton-le-Clay.

It was fantastic to get all parts of the industry together again after the event was cancelled last year.

Careful variety selection, quality seed and establishing crops well, are three keys to maximising spring barley yields in short and increasingly unpredictable growing seasons, according to a two-time winner of a Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) Gold award.

Peter Chapman

Aberdeenshire farmer, Peter Chapman, picked up a YEN Gold for the second time in 2021, after achieving the best percentage of potential spring barley yield from his Sienna spring malting barley, from Limagrain UK.

The crop achieved 82% of its estimated potential yield of 9.7 t/ha, and produced the highest specific weight of all 10 varieties in that category at 72 kg/hl – far exceeding the benchmark of 63 kg/hl.

Mr Chapman won Gold in the same category in 2020 with a crop of LG Diablo, which achieved 87% of its potential 11.1 t/ha yield.

In a year characterised by early summer drought that limited the yield potential of all crops in 2021, he was “pleasantly surprised” with Sienna performance, and will grow it again this season, alongside LG Diablo and a small test area of the new Limagrain UK variety, Jensen.

The 425 ha (1,050-acre) arable and suckler beef farm, which Mr Chapman runs with his wife Grace, grew 64 ha of Sienna last year, and a similar area of LG Diablo. He says both varieties performed well in a tricky season, with Sienna slightly out-yielding LG Diablo. Two other fields of Sienna did even better than the YEN entry, coming in at around 8.4 t/ha, with everything exceeding 70 kg/hl specific weight.

“It produced a beautiful grain sample,” he notes.

With a ready market for feed grain on the doorstep, Mr Chapman’s approach is very much a “high input, high output” system, which has been effective thus far. “Yield and specific weight are my main priorities when choosing varieties, then standing power and agronomics.”

 

Secrets to success

Mr Chapman is clear there is no single answer to maximising crop potential, but says it begins with careful variety selection and sowing good quality seed into the best possible conditions.

“Achieving good specific weights can often be a worry in Aberdeenshire, as although we get the extra day length in summer, there isn’t the same sunlight intensity as further south. I’ve therefore always been a big fan of high specific weight varieties and it was one of the main reasons we chose Sienna.”

Nickerson Original Seed is purchased via Nick Wallace at Nickerson Seeds, part of the Limagrain Group, as Mr Chapman says the quality and vigour of the seed supplied has always been “really good. It’s never let me down.”

The farm used to home-save much of its seed, however a split field comparison between certified and home-saved seed a few years ago showed a clear advantage from using quality, certified seed, he notes.

“Good vigour is especially important with spring barley, given the season is so short. You need crops to emerge and grow quickly, so it’s vital you sow good seed and establish a strong root system to help plants withstand any drought periods later in the season.”

 

Healthy soils

Healthy soil with adequate nutrition is fundamental to creating the conditions for strong rooting and healthy crops that can maintain momentum through the season, Mr Chapman continues.

“Our soils are generally in very good condition, with organic matter contents of 7-9%, due to a history of livestock on the farm, plus regular applications of manure and compost.”

Last season, spring barley ground received farmyard manure and premium green waste compost when the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) application window opened in February, before being ploughed.

The YEN field was then drilled on 29 March at 350 seeds/m², with a phosphate-based liquid starter fertiliser “down the spout” with seed and the main liquid nitrogen application once tramlines were visible.

“It was a difficult spring,” Mr Chapman recalls. “Crops were drilled in perfect conditions, but it was so cold, everything took about a week longer than normal to emerge. Once crops came through, they never looked back though and everything looked tremendous by June.

“The LG Diablo, which we drilled at a lower seed rate of 290/m², also looked stunning, having made the most of its amazing tillering capacity.”

Sienna performed well agronomically too, showing good standing power and stayed clean with a reasonable fungicide programme. Crops received two fungicide sprays, on the 7 and 25 June, based around fluxapyroxad, prothioconazole and tebuconazole, with a growth regulator and micronutrients included in the first spray and folpet in the latter. The crop was sprayed off with glyphosate on 15 August, before harvest on 2 September.

Mr Chapman says a prolonged dry spell last June did result in some tillers being lost, which reduced overall yield potential, however crops still yielded well, at the upper end of the farm’s rolling average of 7.5-8 t/ha.

“With a bit more moisture at the beginning of June, we perhaps could’ve been looking at 9 t/ha,” he suggests.

“Overall, I was very happy with how the LG Diablo and Sienna did last year; both in terms of yield, quality and agronomics. I’m also confident that we made the right decision to go fully down the certified seed route, as I can see it really pays for itself.”

Increasing the amount of maize grown could be one tactic to help mitigate some of the price pressures facing dairy farmers and get the best return from fertiliser on grass.

While there are some encouraging signs about positive movements in milk prices, global factors are continuing to put pressure on prices of some of the most important inputs on dairy farms, including purchased feed, fertiliser and diesel. The challenge for dairy farmers is to limit the impact of price increases where possible, to help maintain margins by capitalising on milk price improvements.

“One area needing early planning is forage production for 2022,” comments Tim Richmond, LG Maize Product Manager. “The objective has to be to improve production and utilisation of quality grazing to support summer margins, while ensuring clamps are full of high-quality winter feed.

“Forage maize could play a significant role. Growing more maize would mean the crop provides a bigger proportion of winter feed requirements, which in turn allows more flexibility of grass use. If less total conserved forage is required from grass, then it would be possible to keep more grass in the grazing block throughout the grazing season, if the requirements for second and subsequent cuts are reduced.

“It could allow a focus on early season grazing and first cut, when grass provides the best response to fertiliser inputs, ensuring good yields from spring grass and a high quality first cut. This would potentially enable reduced stocking densities and lower nitrogen applications later in the season when response to nitrogen is more variable.”

He says maize has a lower nitrogen requirement per hectare than traditional mixed grass grazing and silage system. According to the MGA, the fertiliser cost for a typical three cut grass silage system in 2021 was £395/ha, compared to £228/ha for maize and £223/ha for grazing. Costs for 2022 will clearly be higher, but the relative position will remain.

“Putting more grass into grazing and increasing the proportion of maize will be one way to economise on fertiliser, without compromising winter forage production.  Maize can also be a way to make excellent use of FYM and slurry.”

As there are fewer operations required to produce a hectare of maize, Mr Richmond suggests the crop can reduce the fuel costs per tonne of dry matter produced as well, helping mitigate rising diesel costs.

Finally, maize provides a consistent high-quality feed, and by selecting varieties combining high starch content and superior Cell Wall Digestibility, it will be possible to optimise rumen performance and hopefully reduce purchased feed use next winter.

Mr Richmond concedes there may be challenges in increasing maize hectarage but advises investigating the options. “Many farms are restricted as to how much maize they can grow due to factors like field suitability. One option this year to boost forage would be to take an early first cut before drilling maize. The experience of this year is that later drilled maize can perform very well and still be harvested in time to allow a successor crop to be established.

“Sowing Westerwolds, Italian Ryegrass or Humbolt forage rye will prevent soil run off and improve retention of nutrients in the soil, while building soil organic matter.  Westerwolds and Italians are suitable for grazing or cutting while Humbolt forage rye can be grazed, zero-grazed or baled. All offer flexibility and will increase total forage output per hectare.

“If this approach is workable, it will be important to select earlier maturing varieties with shorter growing seasons to ensure a quality forage is produced in time for the successor crop to be drilled. Varieties like Gema, Prospect and Saxon would fit the bill, combining excellent energy content with fewer days to harvest and good early vigour so they will get away quickly.”

Where options on the home farm mean growing more maize is not practical, Mr Richmond points out that there is renewed interest among arable farmers to grow maize on contract as a break crop, particularly on farms looking to control problem weeds like blackgrass.

He says any arrangement needs careful planning and clear understanding because the objectives of the two parties will often be different. The dairy partner will be interested in the yield of quality forage, focussing on characteristics including dry matter yield, starch content and cell wall digestibility.

The arable grower will be more concerned with how the variety will suit the rotation and that it will be harvested in time to allow the autumn sown successor crop to be established.

“But both parties can benefit. The dairy farmer can increase the proportion of maize available without compromising the system at the home farm. They also have no responsibility for the growing of the crop and can benefit from the arable farmer’s expertise. They can budget the tonnage they should receive and be involved in key decision making, such as harvesting date.

“The grower has an additional cash crop and can use maize to improve the overall rotation.”

Mr Richmond explains that under a typical arrangement, a farmer contracts to grow a set acreage of maize. The grower covers the growing costs, while the buyer pays the costs of harvesting. The buyer will arrange the harvesting with the contractor in consultation with the grower. In some cases, the buyer may supply slurry to the grower, and this will be reflected in the price.

He says there are various models for paying for the crop with paying a price per hectare based on an assessment of yield a common approach. However, increasingly contracts are based on a set price per tonne at an agreed dry matter content. Whatever approach is adopted, he stresses it needs to be agreed at the onset.

“Clearly variety choice is crucial if all objectives are to be met. Both parties must be involved in the discussion on variety choice. It is perfectly possible to select a variety with early maturity and good yields to meet the grower’s objectives, at the same time having exceptional feed value to deliver the quality the dairy farmer needs.

“For arrangements requiring a very early variety, then Gema and Trooper would be an excellent choice as they both produce high quality, energy-dense forage, but are suited to a short growing season, allowing a successor crop of winter wheat to be established.

“For farmers looking to optimise milk production potential without risking a delayed harvest, then Prospect, Dignity, Saxon and Resolute are outstanding candidates.”

Mr Richmond believes that as a result of the current extreme economic pressures, it will pay to look at different ways to optimise forage productivity to exploit any positive movement in milk prices.

  Watch  our brand new video and see how choosing an LGAN accredited variety can help reduce your costs!

A poor start hid the true potential of oilseed rape conventional variety Aspire, which came back in time to pip other hybrid varieties for yield, reports Tom Jewers, of Woodhall Farm, Rattlesden, Suffolk.

Tom Jewers

“It yielded half a tonne more than any other variety on the farm and based on this we will be using Aspire to replace our previous mainstays of Cabernet and Campus.”

Growing oilseed rape is high risk as well as high reward, so we try to limit exposure as much as possible, says Tom.

While disease resistance is key, he points out that there are agronomic strategies that he believes can help the crop too. For example, in the battle against cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB), he has found that oilseed rape plants should not drilled too close together, so he aims for 20 plants/m2 irrespective of the crop being hybrid or conventional.

“We try to drill as early as possible so the crop has a chance to get away before CSFB numbers build, and by creating more space the crop has a chance to grow thicker stems which are just that bit more resistant to the pest.”

Reflecting on his decision-making process last year, he notes that one of the important traits he was looking for was the resistance package, particularly turnip yellows virus (TuYV).

“A few years ago when Amalie, the first variety with TuYV resistance was introduced, we were interested, but sceptical, because official figures showed it to be behind on yield.

“However, when we trialled  it on farm, it out-yielded everything else, showing us that it was likely that our yields had been held back by TuYV.”

For the past few years Tom has also been growing companion crops; he started on a small scale but now they are grown across the whole farm.

“These are typically composed of mixes of berseem clover, buckwheat, and as they are susceptible to frost, they are killed off over the winter having given the oilseed rape a good start.”Benefits from the companion crops have been general and sometimes inconsistent, and he reports that one year he saw fewer CSFB, another seemed to deter pigeons, and on a more consistent theme – they do not appear to have attracted more slugs.

Normally the oilseed rape is planted by direct drilling, but this year he has had to undertake some remedial work from wheelings in the previous barley crop.

“If you have an issue with your soil you have to go in to repair it. This means that some of the crop went into a loosened seedbed on July 27, although we were concerned that it may be more vulnerable to CSFB.

“At the moment it is markedly forward from mineralising the nitrogen (N) from the cultivated soils.

“Oilseed rape crops are a big risk, but the rewards can be equally as great, and there are no other break crops that we can grow on the farm that offer the same margins.

“Ultimately it is a case of trialling things to find out what works for you on your farm.”

 

Farm facts:

Total farmed area: 390ha

Home farm area: 265ha

Contract farm area: 125ha (of which 65ha has been taken on new this year)

Soil: Hanslope series medium clay soil

Seed rate: 40 seeds/m2

Very pleasing yield results have been achieved from all varieties of oilseed rape, both conventional and hybrids grown at H.H. Craske and Son, Michael Craske’s Hadleigh-based farm in Suffolk.

This year’s crop included two conventionals – Acacia, Aardvark and hybrid Aurelia. Mr Craske has always grown conventionals and was originally sceptical about growing oilseed rape hybrids, but last year 50% of his crop was the hybrid Aurelia which we found it was vigorous and performed very well despite difficult conditions.” He went on to say, “After drilling, it stood in water, then in the spring we had lots of frosts, which may have affected the biomass. However, the crop was saved by the damp weather in May and June.” His choice of variety is always careful and he assesses the different traits and resistances. Aurelia has a good resistance package that includes Turnip Yellows Virus (TuYV) and light leaf spot, pod shatter and Phoma stem canker. It also has ratings of 7 for stem stiffness and lodging resistance.

Conventional variety Aardvark has good resistance to light leaf spot and phoma stem canker.

As a grower with many years of experience of oilseed rape, Michael insists that choosing the right ground conditions is key to a good start, but nutrition also plays a key role.

He often plants rape behind spring barley or a second wheat which he prioritises for early harvest.

This year, plans are to drill it behind winter barley as well as spring barley.

He has also planted after winter wheat with chopped straw, but if the weather is damp he advises applying slug pellets ahead of drilling and double rolling to ensure good seed to soil contact.

“We have found that unlike wheat, spring barley does not leave any residual nitrogen (N) in the soil to get rape off to a good start, so we have learned to apply some nutrition in these situations.”

Fertiliser (40kg/N/ha) is applied as soon as possible in January, to help the crop get a running start.

“We apply a total of 200kg/N/ha over the growing season up until the middle of March.”

He also uses SOYL scans for variable rate potash and phosphate and applies Polysulphate.

Last year, because of the volatility of the oilseed rape market he did not order any seed, but bought it for next day drilling when conditions were right.

“It makes a difference when it is possible to work with suppliers that are able to operate on this basis.”

For his cultivation strategy, he uses a Heva 9-leg subsoiler on a crawler, and an Accura disc seeding mechanism. The coulters follow the leg of the subsoiler and the rest of the ground is not touched.

Michael finds he gets the best results with wide rows of 50cm , with a seed rate of around 2.5 – 3.3 kg/ha.

Having dedicated approximately a fifth of the farm’s total combinable area to rape last year, the initial plan is to do the same for the 2021-2022 season.

“Despite having grown oilseed rape on the farm since 1974,there is always something new to learn; but there’s no way of getting away from the fact that the crop remains something of a lottery.”

Farm facts:

Third-generation farm founded in 1951

Farm size: 700 ha, all farmed in-house

Area dedicated to oilseed rape 2020- 2021: 128 ha

Soil: Hanslope soil series, with variations of sandy clay loam

Rotation: First wheat, second wheat, spring barley, oilseed rape, first wheat, second wheat, legume (normally winter beans, but can be peas in more difficult years).