Mr Stafford who runs a mixed farming operation, incorporating a 200 beef finishing unit and nearly 240ha of arable operations across his own and contract –farmed land was thrilled to hear that he had won. “It is wonderful to have this opportunity to go to Denmark with my agronomist and learn more about Danish wheat breeding and farming,” he says. “Regulations on inputs are much more stringent in Denmark so it will be fascinating to hear more about how farmers manage this and still achieve good yields.”
“We have around 60ha of wheat in our rotation and my agronomist Tim works closely with me when choosing new varieties that will give us the greatest potential from our soils. We are always keen to look at new varieties that establish well in the autumn, produce bold, heavy grain with good quality straw,” he says.
“We are very interested in how Evolution will fare here in the south, and will certainly consider it for next year as on paper it offers everything that we need, as well as having a robust disease profile, which suits our slightly wetter climate.”
Marketed in the UK by Limagrain UK, Evolution was bred by Danish breeders Sejet. The variety represents a step change for barn filling wheats giving growers high yields as well as offering robust disease resistance ratings to give extra management flexibility. This has been demonstrated by this year’s official harvest results where Evolution has one of the highest treated yields of 105%over control with untreated yields at 125%.
Evolution in summary
- New high-yielding winter wheat from Limagrain
- Nabim Hard Group 4
- High treated yield– 106% of control on HGCA Recommended List (provisional data 2010-14)
- Rated 9 against yellow and 8 against brown rust
- Rated 6 against septoria, mildew, and fusarium ear blight
- Taller straw than many Group 4s at 88cm, but…
- Good resistance to lodging
- Good second wheat performance