Record wheat yield on the way
13 July 2001
‘Record wheat yield on the way’
By FARMERS WEEKLY staff
WHEAT yields are set to break records where drilling was on time, says CPB Twyford.
Strong sunshine and later applied nitrogen means many growers will be pleasantly surprised come harvest, believes co-managing director John Blackman.
“They could not get the nitrogen on too early and now we are looking at some very big yields indeed,” he says.
On the CPB wheat trials near Thriplow, Cambridgeshire, he is expecting the average yield across all 1584 varieties under test to break records.
But within that bumper crop some will respond to the sun and drought stress much better than others, he says.
“Claire looks well at the moment, but we know it will struggle in these conditions.”
Consort, too, cannot cope in a dry summer. “Grow these varieties in a wet place, they do not like dry conditions,” he says.
The fact that 52% of the crop is down to those varieties, when only about 20% of the wheat growing area really suits them is ridiculous, he continues.
“There are varieties with much higher yields, so why not grow them?” Equinox, Savannah, Genghis and Aardvark all do well in the dry conditions, he says.
Drilling date also needs to be matched to variety. He believes East Anglian growers going early, that is before 15 September, should plant Genghis.
The variety has exceptional eyespot resistance, he maintains. “Forget the Recommended List ratings, they do not work at these drilling dates.”
CPB also claims its RL candidate variety Access has a 5% yield advantage over Claire. A switch would see UK growers 12m better off.