28/08/07
UK growers planning to expand their second wheat acreage
or return to the crop this autumn will be doing so with
noticeably greater precision than in the past, suggests
a new study of variety priorities by robust wheat breeding
leaders, RAGT Seeds.
The summer study, involving more than 300 growers across
the country responsible for over a quarter of a million
acres of wheat, reveals a high Recommended List second
wheat rating as by far their most important variety selection
criterion.
More than 80% of those interviewed, indeed, rated this
as one of their three most important requirements in choosing
a second wheat compared to just over 30% mentioning the
more widely available headline RL treated yield rating.
Underlining the increasing precision growers are putting
into second wheats, proven performance and eyespot resistance
are the other selection criteria considered important by
more than half the growers.
“The experience of several years of questionable
profitability is having a valuable effect on growers’ attitude
to second wheat,” comments study co-ordinator, Chris
Black. “While a high treated RL yield rating remains
an important requirement for wheat growers in general,
where second wheats are concerned they are far more interested
in performance ratings from the HGCA’s second cereals
sites.
“At the same time, they are focussing their attention
on that particular scourge of second wheats, eyespot, looking
for specific resistance to it in addition to general disease
resistance.
“They are clearly seeing second wheat as a distinctly
different crop from first wheat as they look to increase
cereal growing in response to the marked improvement in
prices and lifting of set-aside constraints. This is particularly
encouraging in view of the overwhelming evidence we now
have of the extent to which some varieties under-perform
while others excel as second wheats.
“A particularly good second wheat performer like
Battalion, for instance, has a penalty of only just over
0.5 t/ha on its first wheat performance, while a notably
poor one like Robigus loses over 1.5 t/ha.”
Of the varieties sufficiently established on the Recommended
List to offer broad acres performance proof, five stand
out with second wheat yield ratings of more than 10 t/ha – Ambrosia,
Einstein, Gladiator, Glasgow and Istabraq. The first three
of these are further highlighted for their superior relative
performance in the second wheat slot.
“Better information through the RL and progressively
greater availability of eyespot resistance in the breeding
pipeline looks like standing growers in increasingly good
stead as they build greater precision into their second
wheat production,” Chris Black points out. “Together
with far better returns from the market, this combination
seems certain to make the crop a very much better prospect
than it has been for many years.”
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