A new online calculator will help growers decide whether or not it is worth using farm saved seed, according to the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA).

The free HGCA Seed Selector (developed by The Anderson Centre) covers feed and milling wheat, feed and malting barley and winter oilseed rape and uses a range of details entered by the grower to estimate a total cost or benefit (£/ha).

Growers need to enter details for purchasing seed from a grain merchant (e.g. price, seed rate, thousand grain weight) and for home saving (e.g. additional inputs on parent seed crop, yield, price, cleaning & dressing costs, opportunity costs of resources required).

Where no farm figure is available, a suggested value is provided.

The calculator can be accessed at www.hgca.com/hgca/scc. Users can also access other online tools, such as the Cereals Industry Map – which details local markets – at www.hgca.com.