December 17th 2008

CEREAL SEED PRIZE GIVES NORTHUMBERLAND FARMER AN UNUSUAL VARIETY CHOICE

If you had 100ha of cereal seed free of charge, which varieties would you go for?  That was the unusual choice that Northumberland farmer Fred Ryle had to make for his cereal varieties this back end as the winner of the Nickerson Direct / Farmers Weekly competition at this year's Cereals event. 
Mr Ryle farms 300ha (740 acres) of heavy clay loam at Earsdon East Farm, Morpeth, Northumberland and is typical of the area in that he grows winter wheat, winter barley, oilseed rape and some spring barley. He rotates grass leys around the farm wherever possible, providing feed for his beef enterprise and an additional break in the arable rotation.
For his prize he chose three winter wheats - Claire, Cassius and Hyperion - along with the winter barleys Retriever and Spectrum, and the spring barley Westminster. 
The top choice was Claire, says Mr Ryle: "I have grown the variety since it came on to the market, and its consistency is a key factor for me - it has always worked well on the farm.”
In contrast to well-established Claire, Fred went for a brand-new variety, Cassius, for the second of his wheat choices:  “I wanted to try a new variety, and Cassius looks interesting as it is similar to Consort but without the disease issues."
Sean Lovegreen, Nickerson Direct's regional seed specialist, who advised Mr Ryle on his Nickerson Original Seed prize, added:  “Cassius has just joined the HGCA Recommended List as a  Group 4 soft wheat for the north. Most of Fred's wheat usually goes for distilling in Scotland, but Cassius could give him a bigger choice of outlets.”
Hyperion was the third wheat choice: “It has a good bushel weight and stands well - and has excellent eyespot resistance, so Sean recommended it for my second wheat slot,” says Fred.
The two spring barleys chosen were Retriever and Spectrum  “Retriever is a two-row but looks to yield like a six-row, and does especially well in the north. And Spectrum is a bit different, it's a new and improved Carat with 2-3% yield advantage.  Also it stands well, so it was just right for the fertile site I was looking at.”
The final prize installment will be Westminster barley in the spring.  “Westminster is a fully approved IBD malting variety, but for me its combination of long, stiff straw is the attraction - good straw always has a value, both on the farm and for neighbours,” he added.



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