The Cereals Event has been and gone, lots of flashy paint, plant and toys to entice anyone to part with a serious load of wedge/notes (depending from which side you come from). Lots of fancy stuff in the agchem arena and equally large and expensive machinery to apply it with. It seems every year the prices of these tools become ever more stratopheric, if inflation is supposed to be in the very low single digits, then you need a stiff drink and a new set of glasses to fathom the price increases in four wheeled machinery!
There has been a lot of comment in the farming press lately about wheat variety selections for the 2012 season, with emphasis as always being placed on the new upcoming varieties that have made the recommended list(RL). I personally have some misgivings about the way the list is put together, because I think that it doesn't always reflect what is actually happening with varieties in different regions, indeed soil types, even though there are North, South, East and West specifics. How does a wheat perform say on heavy wet land in Devon (when the land the RL trials are conducted on is light free draining reds near Exeter). Likewise, ground in Dorset differs markedly from that in Kent, yet both count as South.
The RL trials are littered with the corpses of varieties that supposedly never made it onto the list because they failed, or were inconsistent over a multitude of sites. A classic example of this is a Nickerson bred variety called Lear, a variety way ahead in yield when it came out, Orange Blossom Midge resistance, superior septoria and rust resistance, fantastic grain quality and a good amount of straw, everything you could want in a western wheat. It didn't make the list because apparently it had weak straw. Well, tell that to the farmers who are growing it and getting exceptional yields from it! I remember Bill our wheat breeder reflecting that he should have fought harder to get it approved as it was a very good variety, however because of the process, not all candidates make it, so they were sanguine about it at the time, but regret it now. Commercial seed stocks are very limited as very few grow it. Likewise Deben now, supposedly outclassed by the newer varieties on the RL. Last but not least, Istabraq, dropped from the RL trials program now, considered an 'old' variety, but in last years trials at Exeter was joint top yielder at 118% with the highest specific weight. Go to Scotland, like I just have this week and you will see Istabraq outperforming the newer wheats hands down in the field, still the best distilling variety out there. Then there's Alchemy, still at 112% at Exeter last year, 4th highest yielder ahead of a lot of newer RL stuff, but supposedly outclassed by these same varieties on the printed RL books. To me, consistency of yield is more important than one years performance and knowing the genetic parentage of a variety is a vital clue to this consistency.
So this begs the question, why are we seeing a 3% yield increase roughly year on year in the RL system, but this is not being translated to farm level. Last year, someone I know in Wiltshire averaged 11.2t/ha (sold!)over 350Ha growing Solstice, Claire and Duxford(2nd wheat slot). You don't have to be a mathematician to appreciate the profitability of growing high yielding milling and feed wheats when wheat is trading at nearly £200/ton. Claire is 12 years plus old, yet it is still more than capable of producing good yields, even in difficult places like North Devon, so why are there people out there slating it and saying it's getting old and falling behind newer varieties? Is the process of selection producing varieties of high potential yield, but with poor to mediocre specific weights and hagbergs, which will sprout if you sneeze on them at harvest time? Are breeders, as a result of the RL system, being tempted to make quality sacrifices in genetic resistance to disease by releasing varieties with only single gene, rather than polygenic resistance factors, which then break down only a year or two after being released, or even whilst still in the trials stages? Is the drive by big chemical companies that are buying up small to medium scale cereal breeding companies limiting diversity of research? My fear is that this 'race' to release new varieties is leading us down a blind alley, where more and more genetic material is 'burnt' as varieties break down to rusts etc and resistant genes become fewer and fewer to the point that genetic modification becomes the only road available to maintain wheat production.
Is the new chemistry that is being applied to varieties negating yield performance in the field, are some of these tank mixes that are being put together actually depressing the plants abilities through phytotoxicity? How many farmers/agronomists are actually applying recommended rates and mixes as stipulated by manufacturers? Did you know that Nickerson tests a full range of different fungicide programs from different maufacturers over the course of a candidate variety going through the NL and RL processes, which once approved is freely available so growers can see which spray program produces the best result for that specific variety. I asked a very successful farmer this the other evening at one of my demonstration events, to which he replied no, never knew it, never seen them, his agronomist had never given him one. http://www.nickersondirect.co.uk/products/winter_wheat1.html Check for yourself, the info is here and if it's not, then I sure can find it.
So, after all that, have a look at what these wheat varieties down near Tregony in Cornwall look like, some good, some not so good, lots to learn and observe, this has really been a 'shake-out' year for many wheat varieties and we aren't done yet! Have a look at the wheat near the end of the plots next to Duxford, This is Nickerson Original Deben treated with GPA. Looks better than a lot of the material in the plots, it will be very interesting to compare its yield to the ordinary Deben in the plots and the other varieties. Then there's Stigg, maybe not everyones cup of tea, but it does point the way we need to be looking for septoria resistance!
