Archive Article: 1997/10/18
BRIGADIERs march has come to an end, as this harvests performance predicted. It now has only half the acreage of last year – leaving it with a 10% share of the winter wheat area.
Riband remains the most popular variety – again. Sowings are estimated to be 23% of the winter wheat area. Stealing a few acres from Riband in the soft wheat sector is Consort – the second most popular variety this autumn with 14% of autumn plantings.
End market has dominated wheat variety choice this autumn, according to David Neale, national cereal seeds manager with Dalgety Agriculture. He believes this accounts for the 7 to 8% rise in class 1 and 2 wheats. They now occupy a quarter of the total wheat area. Hereward marginally strengthens its position as the top breadmaking variety.
Mr Neales figures are not just based on Dalgety sales, but are calculated using a poll of the seed trade, seed certification figures and market contracts.
Tim Hirst of East Anglia-based BDR agrees that the market has been the over-riding factor in variety selection. His own order books show an even greater swing to added-value wheats. "Having languished for three or four years, Rialto is the success story of the season. The climate is right for it to demonstrate its quality and premium potential," he adds.
Mr Hirst also singles out group 3 Consort as having a "super" year. His sales are 60% up on last year and would be even greater if more seed had been available.
Both Mr Neale and David Waite, Allied Grains seed manager based at Berwick upon Tweed, echo the Consort story. "Consort and Riband are both clearly in strong demand from end markets at home and abroad, but Consort has gained the edge this year with superior bushel weights," says Mr Neale.
In Scotland, Riband is still the number one seller, says Mr Waite, taking as much as 80% of the market north of Edinburgh.
Not as far north, in the Borders and Northumberland, for instance, the added value wheats are making inroads. Mr Waite names Rialto and Charger as having achieved a significant share of the market, also Shiraz and Malacca, and Abbot to a lesser extent because seed has been limited.
Elsewhere, too, the newer names – Abbot and Equinox, for example – and Buster, since its recent elevation to premium feed wheat, have each taken a bite-sized chunk of the cake, largely at the expense of Brigadier. However, despite yellow rust pressure, Brigadier has performed well this year, points out Mr Neale. Many growers are still supporting the variety – hence it retains a respectable 10% share in 1997/98.
Continuing patronage for Brigadier from some quarters is certainly evident in Mr Hirsts trading book. He believes Reaper may have suffered even more than Brigadier in lost sales.
REGINA, Regina and Regina. It was the variety everyone wanted this autumn, despite the debacle over malting premiums. The malting barley variety is now in poll position, taking 22% of the winter barley area this autumn.
Intro and Fighter, with an estimated 10% and 9% area of plantings, remain the most popular feed barleys.
Forecasts that the total winter barley area would be down by up to a third have been pessimistic. A late run of seed business puts barley plantings back by only 5 to 8%.
Regionally, the picture varies. Mr Waite estimates that winter barley seed sales in Scotland are 17 to 18% down, but points out that last years figures were higher than 1995. Also, this years economy drive has meant an increase in home-saved seed, so reduction in plantings may not be as drastic as seed sales suggest.
Maltsters reluctance to commit to premium levels and precious few pointers on preferred varieties appears to have pushed some growers to dual-purpose varieties: "Were seeing the yield components of Fanfare, Gleam, Rifle and, in particular, Regina being exploited," says Mr Neale.
Mr Waite has also been promoting Regina and, further north, Melanie. "Why restrict your marketing opportunities at sowing if youre not going to suffer a yield penalty," he asks. Together with feed varieties Pastoral and the 6-row Muscat, these four varieties account for more than 90% of his business.
More than a third of barley seed sold by BDR Agriculture is Regina. Sales are up by 56% this year. "Its been recognised as the number one, and growers have gone mad for it," says Mr Hirst. Halcyon sales this season have also improved. "Despite its warts," he adds, in reference to its lodging risk, "growers are sticking with Halcyon, or even going back to it."
Mr Neale agrees that, for the true quality malting barley producers with the right land, Halcyon and, to a lesser extent, Pipkin provide the benchmark.
But he warns the maltsters to clearly identify their favoured varieties before growers commit on nitrogen applications – "to be sure of sufficient supply."
Have you gone with the flow or out on a limb with your winter cereal variety choice this year, asks Tia Rund.