In a year of changes, with new markets emerging and existing ones demanding higher standards, plant breeders Nickerson have released a ‘Guide to Winter Wheat Varieties & Marketing’ to help growers focus on the choice of wheat varieties to meet 2008 markets. 

“There have been some important changes in the varieties available this year,” said Lee Robinson, the company’s cereals product manager. “Group 1 has seen the promotion of Solstice to join Xi19, while in Group 3, Zebedee is the only new variety in this important category available for 2007 sowing and has joined the gold standard variety Claire.” 

The guide details the target markets for UK wheat growers and principal uses for UK wheat, from the domestic quality and animal feed markets to export, and also the newly-emergent markets such as starch extraction and biofuel production which have less clearly-defined parameters and need extra care in variety selection.

“We wanted to make the guide a reference source for wheat growers, so we have included a chart of all Nickerson’s winter wheat varieties showing the nabim group, drilling date, 1st/2nd wheat position and a brief description of the characteristics of each variety,” added Mr Robinson.

Copies of the guide are available from the marketing department at direct@nickerson.co.uk