With second wheats making up approximately 40 per cent of the total winter wheat acreage it is vital that farmers select the correct varieties in order to maximise overall crop performance. Growers choosing second wheats for drilling this autumn should therefore consider very carefully which are the best-performing winter wheats for that slot in the rotation before making their decision, advises leading plant breeder Nickerson.

“Farmers have to be confident in their choice of second wheat as it can make up a large chunk of the cropping on their farm,” stresses Nickerson Business Development Manager, Michael Fletcher. “Compared with the amount of information available on first wheats, data on second wheats is more limited, so greater care is needed in terms of variety choice.”

Mr Fletcher points out that in Recommended List Second Wheat trials this year to date, the soft variety Cassius has yielded the highest (108.2%) of all Group 4 varieties on the List and is second only to Group 2 variety Ketchum (110%), when varieties across all the nabim Groups were considered. Compared with other soft Group 4 varieties in the trials, Cassius yielded 4.7% above closest rival Glasgow and more than 6% above Viscount.

“These results have supported what we have said about this variety in a second wheat situation,” adds Mr Fletcher. “Although newly recommended only for the North of the country last year, with the RL Second Wheat trials having taken place in East Anglia, Lincolnshire and the South West, the variety offers growers in all regions a solid option as a second wheat.

“Cassius has come through in what can only be described as a testing season for second wheats, after the poor start last autumn, and the message to growers is clear that this variety has done very well.”