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Know How / Variety selection

There are many factors to consider when selecting the right crop variety. Find out which varieties are performing well and proving their worth for the intended market, whether wheat for milling or feed, barley for malting or oilseed rape for specialist uses. With disease resistance becoming ever-important with a declining amoury of pesticides, see how new varieties can help.

Case studies

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VARIETY SELECTION

Why two growers have warmed to German high-protein wheats

High-protein German wheats are now part of Essex farm manager Mark Tubby’s rotation as they have increased his profits and given him an extra tool to fight blackgrass. The wheat…

ARABLE

Bold rapeseed variety choice secures profitable future

Since estate manager Toby Hogsbjerg made the radical decision to completely switch to Clearfield oilseed rape varieties, the estate's rapeseed crops have yielded almost 1t/ha more. A serious charlock problem…

BARLEY

Switching barley varieties yields better profits in Norfolk

Spring malting barley is the most profitable cereal crop on one north Norfolk farm and in a bid to improve returns further just one new high-yielding variety is being grown.…

ARABLE

Farmers' verdicts on 2017 wheat disease strategies

Yields and quality have proved to be better than anticipated for the farmers, considering the very dry spring and prolonged harvest, along with the disease threats. While responses to fungicides…

HARVEST

Video: World record OSR yield attempt in Lincolnshire

High on the Lincolnshire Wolds, grower Tim Lamyman is trying to break his own world yield record for oilseed rape and the omens look good. There is thick carpet of…

VARIETY SELECTION

Planning vital for peak farm-saved seed performance

Producing top quality farm-saved seed has helped one father-and-son team from the Scottish Borders cut costs by £20/ha while still achieving good yields from the latest wheat varieties. Cameron and…

Practical advice

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VARIETY SELECTION

Three potato varieties show more tolerance to nematodes

Newer potato varieties such as Royal, Lanorma and Iodea are showing useful levels of resistance to the spud industry’s biggest pest problem, potato cyst nematode (PCN). Graham Tomalin, agronomist at…

VARIETY SELECTION

What the 2018 winter wheat varieties offer growers

Most of the newly recommended winter wheat varieties for this coming autumn have more yield to offer, but that’s considered unlikely to be enough to tempt growers to make sweeping…

CROP SELECTION

Oat market offers opportunity for farms in the right areas

Oats are the UK’s third largest home-grown cereal crop, behind wheat and barley, and they can be a profitable addition to arable rotations. They are a useful low-input cereal break…

VARIETY SELECTION

Expert pointers on winter barley variety choices

Winter barley has fallen out of favour on many British farms in recent years due to a combination of its unattractive gross margins and farmers turning to spring cropping to…

VARIETY SELECTION

Advice on picking OSR varieties to drill this autumn

The new format of the winter oilseed rape Recommended List can’t disguise the fact that growers have never had such a good range of varieties to choose from. While the…

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Why growing a Group 3 wheat may pay off next season

A shortage of Group 3s and a glut of Group 1 wheats has resulted in biscuit wheat premiums rivalling that for full breadmakers, but without the extra growing costs. Paul…

Insights

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VARIETY SELECTION

Three potato varieties show more tolerance to nematodes

Newer potato varieties such as Royal, Lanorma and Iodea are showing useful levels of resistance to the spud industry’s biggest pest problem, potato cyst nematode (PCN). Graham Tomalin, agronomist at…

HARVEST

Harvest 2018: The 5 top-yielding winter barley varieties

Throughout the harvest season we are updating our handy map with the latest data from 2018’s AHDB winter barley Recommended List harvest results. Use the map below to find the…

OILSEED RAPE

Rapeseed needs a price hike to prompt a bigger area

Rapeseed prices will need to tick higher to encourage a bigger oilseed rape crop to be drilled this summer as growers watch their crops struggling in the current wet weather.…

ARABLE

What the 5 new sugar beet varieties offer

Five newly recommended sugar beet varieties offer growers up to 7.6% extra yield, as well as a step up in yield for a specialist variety for fields infested with rhizomania.…

HARVEST

Harvest 2017: The 5 top-yielding spring barley varieties

Throughout the harvest season we’ll be updating this handy map with the latest data from this year’s AHDB spring barley recommended list 2017 harvest results. Use the map below to find…

HARVEST

Harvest 2017: The 5 top-yielding winter wheat varieties

Throughout the harvest season we’ll be updating this handy map with the latest data from this year’s AHDB winter wheat recommended list 2017 harvest results. Use the map below to find…

HARVEST

Harvest 2017: The 5 top-yielding winter barley varieties

Throughout the harvest season we are updating this handy map with the latest data from 2017’s AHDB winter barley Recommended List harvest results. Use the map below to find the…

HARVEST

Harvest 2017: The 5 top-yielding oilseed rape varieties

Throughout the harvest season we will be updating this handy map with the latest data from this year’s AHDB oilseed rape Recommended List 2017 harvest results. Use the map below to…

OILSEED RAPE

Growers spoilt for choice with new oilseed rape varieties

Conventional oilseed rape varieties may continue to set the pace for gross output, but there is plenty of interest in hybrids and specialist types, especially the Clearfield varieties, according to…

WHEAT

Distorted milling wheat market puts agronomics in spotlight

Wheat growers now have a head-spinning 41 varieties to choose between when they study the AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds’ mammoth Recommended List, meaning it’s trickier than ever before to make…

WHEAT

Why biscuit wheats could trump milling varieties this autumn

In stark contrast to the Group 1 sector, there aren’t enough Group 3 wheats being grown in the UK to meet demand and the millers are keen to secure supplies.…

VARIETY SELECTION

How winter cropping gross margins stack up for 2017/18

Harvest is underway in some parts of the country, but for most there are still a few weeks to go before the really busy season begins. Now is an opportune time…