Wheat yields have generally been impressive, but performance between varieties has been highly variable.
“Crops have generally out-performed their five-year average this season, but there have been some notable winners and some sad losers,” says Openfield national seeds and technical manager Lee Bennett.
“Perhaps not unexpectedly some of the best performing varieties are the high yielding feed wheats, namely JB Diego and KWS Santiago, two of the most popular wheats in the UK. Both have produced solid performances across all the HGCA trial sites. Another performer worthy of note has been Leeds, a soft feed wheat with good export potential, which has also done very well,” he says.
The performance of these varieties owes much to availability of quality fungicides and of the ability of growers to control disease before it impacts a plant’s prospects, suggests Lee Bennett.
“This year has been particularly difficult for all foliar diseases, especially yellow and brown rust. Growers have also had to contend with high fusarium pressure as summer neared. But unlike 2012 when disease pressure was equally high, we have benefitted from dry weather during much of spring which made keeping on top of disease far easier,” he says.
“This at least partly explains why, despite the disease pressure, KWS Kielder has produced another solid performance. As this season has demonstrated, it is a variety that has the capacity to reward growers when treated with a robust fungicide programme.”
Harvest results released by the HGCA at the start of the month support Lee Bennett’s observations. Leeds is joint top-yielder at 12.2t/ha while JB Diego (12.0t/ha), KWS Santiago (12.1t/ha) and KWS Kielder (12.0t/ha) are within touching distance.
Feed wheat continues to dominate yield tables, but the situation is changing with the introduction of new milling varieties. Skyfall, given provisional recommendation status in 2013 by the HGCA, has had a superb year averaging 11.88 t/ha.
“Skyfall continues to impress. It has superb disease resistance, especially to Septoria tritici, and is supported by solid market demand thanks to its good milling and baking performance,” says Lee Bennett.
Group 2 favourite Cordiale managed a respectable performance averaging 11.21 t/ha in HGCA trials in line with long-term average.
“Cordiale remains the benchmark Group 2 for flour quality and is widely accepted by millers and bakers. On farm its performance exceeds that seen in official trials and it benefits from being early to harvest, reliable physical grain quality and established market demand,” he says.
