The volatility in commodity prices, rising input costs, and one of the wettest harvests for many seasons, all add up to a challenging time for agriculture as we look forward to 2009.

Faced with this environment, consistency has to be the key word as the 2008 drilling season gets under way - consistency in yield, in disease resistance, and in achieved quality for end users. 

Bill Angus, Nickerson’s senior wheat breeder talks us through winter wheat varieties that meet this test - with a look forward at some of the varieties coming up for consideration for the HGCA Recommended List that promise to meet this challenge in the future.  Then for winter barley, Mark Glew, the company’s senior barley breeder, picks out three varieties that have stood out in this year’s trials.

Bill Angus starts with Group 1, the key premium-earning market:  “End-users are usually looking for a specific variety, so it is important to make your choice with a buyer in mind.  Solstice is a high quality bread-making wheat popular with millers and bakers alike that has performed consistently in commercial usage and is straightforward to grow.

For the coming year there are three potential bread-making winter wheats:  Panorama has the highest untreated and treated yield of all this year’s candidate bread-making varieties, QPlus is a potential Group 1 bread-making wheat that would be an ideal partner for Solstice, with the added benefit of resistance to orange wheat blossom midge. Walpole has a very high yield potential, and is similar to Xi19 in agronomic type.”

Mr Angus continues with Group 2 - varieties that have bread-making potential but are not suited to all millers:  “Einstein is the highest yielding fully recommended nabim Group 2 bread-making variety with similar yield potential to the highest yielding feed wheats.  It has good grain quality, very good flour colour when milled and has proven domestic as well as export markets.

Looking at Group 3, Claire remains the ‘gold standard’, producing very high yields of soft milling grain suitable for biscuits, the uks export market and distilling.  For potential new potential Group 3 varieties, Cassius has a good agronomic profile and is potentially suitable for early sowing in the autumn.”

Mr Angus stressed the very important difference between the hard and soft Group 4 varieties.: “Soft Group 4 wheats have found their place in the UK’s important export market, and are also likely to be suitable for the distilling and feed markets.  Alchemy is a soft endosperm variety with the potential to meet the requirements of the uks export category. In addition distilling data has shown the variety to have very high spirit yields, making it suitable for the evolving starch/ bioethanol markets.  On the near horizon is Lear, a soft milling Group 4 feed wheat with a range of end use markets and a unique combination of characteristics to counter Septoria and wheat orange blossom midge.

Lastly, hard Group 4 wheats are traditionally poorer for alcohol production and, if they have the 1B/1R translocation, are unlikely to find a home in bioethanol plants in the long term. Hard Group 4’s have a place as barn-filling feed wheats, but are unlikely to achieve a premium. However, if you are looking at the early drilling slot, keep an eye on Bantam.”

Turning to winter barley, Mark Glew, Nickerson’s senior barley breeder picks out three varieties that have stood out in this year’s trial results: “Pearl has had a good year and will continue to be the market leader and a firm favourite with the malting and brewing industry.  Cassata has also done well and is now fully approved for brewing as a viable alternative to Pearl and Flagon, especially for BaYMV infested land.  Retriever is bang on target yield wise and leads the two-row field by a good margin - it’s a two-row with a six-row yield.

This year’s harvest underlines the effect of the changing climate on the agronomy of the cereal crop.  We are already experiencing the effects of warmer winters, wet springs followed by drought, and - as we know to our cost this year - wet summers.   That is why consistency and keeping an eye on the market place - whether you are looking at wheat or barley - are the keys to success in your variety choice.”

Article as published in Farm Business Agronomist, Autumn 2008 issue.