Shropshire Farming Talk: Arable event showcases new variety performance

One of the best features of the event is the demonstration plots which receive the same farm programme as everything else at Bradford Estates making them realistic on farm representations showing how varieties perform in the region.

The demonstration site includes plots of winter wheat, barley, and oats. Alongside hybrid rye, triticale and OSR.

These plots have given us great insights through the growing window on how varieties perform.

As a result of a mild, wet spring, cereal crops have been exposed to a higher disease pressure, and we’ve seen higher levels of Septoria at the trial site.

I picked out two winter wheat varieties on the day to highlight to visitors.

KWS Dawsum is best sown in the main drilling slot of Mid-September onwards, its specific weight is one of the best at 80kg/hl. It’s short and stiff with a good disease resistance to septoria and yellow rust making it a good option in this region.

A new variety that has come in top of the recommended list is LG Redwald. It’s a vigorous, high biomass crop that offers high yields. It’s also got a good disease package for septoria, eye spot and yellow rust.

When it comes to barley, a new top yielding, conventional variety was the talking point.

LG Caravelle is a new two row winter feeding barley, which is high yielding, has a good specific weight, bold grain and offers a great disease resistance package. It also keeps standing all the way through to harvest.

It’s great to see new varieties coming through and performing in the field. To anyone considering their crop and variety choices for the next season, I’d encourage them to speak to specialists to review the best options based on growing conditions, agronomic factors and end markets.

For more advice on variety selection or more information on any of the varieties mentioned above, visit our website.

by Danny Richardson, Wynnstay seed specialist