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Limagrain UK Ltd supports the Fairplay farm saved seed initiative
which seeks to establish a level playing field on which all farmers contribute fairly to the cost of breeding new varieties irrespectively, whether they use farm saved or certified seed.
For more information, click link below
Winter Wheat
The Limagrain Group has wheat-breeding programmes in the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Spain and Israel. Varieties from these programmes are marketed internationally under the NICKERSON brand. Whilst the breeder in each country specialises in producing varieties for their own climate, the exchange of material between programmes allows varieties to be studied across a range of environments. This means Nickerson varieties have been tested for consistency of performance under widely varying conditions long before they ever reach the farmer.
In the UK the Nickerson wheat-breeding programme is based at Woolpit in Suffolk, with a second site at Docking in Norfolk. This is the largest wheat breeding programme in the UK and uses a combination of traditional plant breeding techniques and modern technologies such as Molecular Markers and Double Haploid production in the search for new improved varieties with good end-user grain characteristics. Farmer-friendly agronomic characteristics also feature strongly in the strategy of our wheat breeding team.
Do you have a question for our wheat breeders? The UK programme is led by Bill Angus (pictured above) who is based at Woolpit. You can submit a question for Bill or the other members of the breeding team by clicking on the 'Ask a Breeder' button at the top of this page.
Winter wheat varieties can vary considerably in their ability to produce tillers. This feature needs to be used when deciding on the seed rate and drilling date for a crop. The relative tillering capacities - expressed as low, medium or high – for the main Nickerson varieties are set out in the table below.
This is for guidance only because tiller production (and survival) is also influenced by sowing date and site fertility.
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Source: NIAB Seedstats 5 Jan 2009 - Provisional Weights of Seed Certified from Harvest 2008 (UK)
