Hi all, although an avid reader of the forum topics I have never posted (think I know it all).Just looking for information on which winter wheat seem especially suitable for organic farming.Priorities in my opinion would be septoria resistance along with decent fusarium and eyespot resistance.Hopefully this could be coupled with early/vigorous spring growth.I would be aiming for the feed market

Slightly off-thread, but you will find that the diseases mentioned, and certainly many other diseases as well as pest issues, are a soil problem.

If your soil is lacking oxygen and an appropriate balance of nutrients, conditions created by anaerobic microbes act as pheromones and attract a range of pests, and fungal diseases. 

We have shown that crop quality, yield and shelf life can be significantly improved, particularly in organic agriculture.  This year, I have received a report from an organic dairy farmer in Wales, that by incorporating Plocher Soil Activator (which stimulates beneficial biological processes in soil) in his slurry immediately before spreading, he has increased his potato yield from an average of 8 tons/acre to over 10 tons/acre, and he commented that the crop quality was good too.

We have a couple of independent trials on organic potatoes happening in Scotland and Cambridgeshire too.

Regards

CW

Hi Al Kid,

If you haven't already converted (or even if you have) you might care to take a peek at the clip here:

 http://www.fwi.co.uk/community/forums/organic-versus-conventional-18208.aspx

Two varieties worth looking at:

Naturastar http://www.trevorcopeseeds.co.uk/11naturastar.htm was bred for the organic chaps - good fusarium and excellent growth and smothering habit.

Otherwise the best for septoria and actually a cracking variety is one called Exsept http://www.nickersonuk.com/products/details/14.html I seem to recall it having a seven or even an eight for septoria which is pretty rock. It is also a Hereward cross so may have a decent sample.

Many organic wheat growers grow spring varieties and for that I would suggest forgetting the feed market and growing Paragon.

Hope that helps.

i have grown organic wheat for 10 yrs,this year , it is all paragon spring wheat, sown in late

october.  the best winter wheat i grew was pegasos, a german long straw variety. I have been unable to source any more seed.

You should forget about disease resistance, the ability to outgrow weeds is more important.

without bag N, disease pressure is low.

From small scale trials, go for the older varieties for weed supression. I've got a field of Avalon (if seed comes) to see if it really works.

Hard to think of a variety that will sow late and grow fast, and at the same time have organic seed available.

go for broke, maris widgeon.it grows 5 ft tall

you can get seed from thatch growers.

it can outgrow any weed, but only does 1.5 t/acre

Have you tried any of that? If so, could you post some pics?

Widgeon was always a bit of an uncompetitive dwarf compared to Huntsman. But, alas, the latter's very name is an affront to many PC organic sensibilities. 

Interesting to note that I received a flier from Premium Crops offering a min £300/t deal to grow Red wheat for Hovis. The stated yield for that was only 1.5t/ac.

tc sorry i dont have any pics of widgeon, i will maybe grow some again as it can p*** on the wild oats i inherited from the previous year to year tenant.

Similiarly that red wheat is very competitive, and last year looked fantastic, but it did not pollinate, i think due to the bad weather. there was onl;y 4 grains per head.

result, yield  0.5 t/acre, protein 17% price £340 (organic)

in 06 it did 1.5 t, but i dont think i will risk it again.

the speed it grew at was astonishing. in 06 i had a split field of red wheat and paragon, and at the join was a bad patch of wild oats. On the paragon side, wild oats were rampant, on the red wheat side , only one or two.

So i foolishly grew 60 acres of it on wild oat infested land, and got 30 t !

Interesting you mention the red wheat - I received a flier today from Premium Crops wanting me to grow some red wheat for RHM. Conventional of course but we are quite interested. For us it would be a late September / early October drilled first wheat but it is interestign to note how it competes. Is it the sort of stuff that will grow to 5ft too? Bit worrying about the pollenation, but in a normal year it should be ok. I'll make a note to sort some beehives.

it was ads75 spring red wheat