Hot on the heels of Cereals 2015, HGCA is putting on two Variety Open Days in Yorkshire and Cornwall, in partnership with Bayer CropScience and Duchy College respectively.
Visitors will have the chance to speak with our variety and disease specialists over a free lunch, and tour the demonstration plots containing all the wheat and barley varieties on the HGCA Recommended Lists.
These events will be especially useful for growers unable to join us at Cereals 2015 in Boothby Graffoe, Lincoln, on 10–11 June. BASIS and NRoSO points are available at both sites.
“Seeing the wheat and barley in the ground will give growers a head start for variety selection in their area for next season,” says Dr Simon Oxley of HGCA.
“At the Yorkshire site, all Recommended winter and spring sown varieties and candidates for the future are on show. At the moment, the crops are looking good, with yellow rust the most common disease, which should help bring out the differences between the varieties, in the untreated plots.”
“At the Cornwall site, all Recommended winter and spring sown varieties and candidates for the future are on show. At the moment, the crops are looking good, with little disease to show presently but, with septoria tritici being a major disease in the area, we expect to see differences between the varieties in the untreated plots on the day.”
Duchy College’s Farm Director, James Coumbe, said: “We are pleased to be able to offer more variety for this year’s open day with spring barley and oats as well as winter wheat and barley varieties. The crops are now growing on, having had a long period of cold temperatures and winds this spring.”
