With the top oilseed rape varieties on the 2021/22 AHDB Recommended List, and some of the highest yielding wheat and barley varieties, there is much interest in Limagrain UK’s
breeding programme.
In response to this, last autumn Limagrain invested in a wide range of new demonstration variety trials sites, whilst also maintaining those that were already a well recognised feature of the farming landscape – one of which is located just opposite the Murrayshall Hotel, outside Perth hosted by S. Cameron courtesy of W. Glen & Son.
“We put the plots in hoping that by this summer we would once again be able to come together for what we believe is a really valuable exercise in helping growers make the best informed variety choices, and one that has not been possible for the last year,” said William Charlton, Limagrain UK arable marketing manager.
“We were delighted therefore in the interest from both growers and the seed trade to our open day at the end of July, where we had the opportunity to showcase our Northern variety portfolio and share the results of our work on how to get the best out of these varieties on-farm.”
OSR Portfolio
Key messages to come from Limagrain UK’s arable development officer, Liam Wilkinson, were Limagrain’s OSR genetics are the strongest and most robust that any breeder has seen for a long time.
“Our focus on using genetics to mitigate risk in the oilseed rape crop has been very successful and is fully reflected in the current RL for the North where LG varieties hold the top six positions.”
Within the breeding programme we have been able to focus on issues relevant more specifically to northern conditions and challenges; for example none of our varieties have less than a score of 6 for light leaf spot and our trait-loaded approach offers pod shatter, turnip yellows virus (TuYV) and RLM7 resistances.
These leading varieties have proven themselves consistently over seasons and continue to deliver the yields that growers have come to expect.
In summary:
Aurelia is the top yielding variety for the north at 106% of control. Aurelia is a fully loaded hybrid combining genetic TuYV, pod shatter and RLM7 phoma resistance with the highest light leaf spot rating available on the Recommended List.
LG Aviron is Limagrain’s newest fully loaded hybrid to receive full UK recommendation and joins the RL as joint highest yielding variety at 105% of control. LG Aviron has shown its robustness and consistency throughout testing and is a very vigorous hybrid that can establish well in challenging seedbeds.
Acacia is the highest yielding conventional variety available on the Recommended List at 104% control. Acacia offers key agronomic characteristics of strong autumn and spring vigour, solid disease resistance and short, stiff straw, combined with a high oil content.
Aardvark has early flowering, high vigour and the best disease package out of the recommended conventional varieties with 103% yield for the North.
Aspire is the only recommended conventional variety with crucial TuYV resistance. Aspire is a short robust plant type with very good straw characteristics. A solid disease profile and TuYV resistance means
Aspire fits the early drilling option perfectly, with its slower speed of development.
Limagrain has produced a variety guide for its OSR Portfolio. This covers information on drilling dates, traits, and much more. Download using the link at the bottom of this page.
*2021/22 AHDB Recommended List North
Cereals Plots
One of the stars of the show, LG Astronomer, is an exciting new biscuit wheat that offers one of the most complete agronomic packages of any winter wheat available on the AHDB Recommend List for 2021/22.
“Because of its high specific weight (77.8 kg/hl), all-round agronomic package, and strong yield it ticks a lot of boxes for on-farm security, which is what growers are looking for,” says Limagrain UK’s arable technical manager, Ron Granger.
Other new biscuit wheats on display were LG Prince and LG Illuminate.
“LG Illuminate is popular in the north and has performed very well in the earlier drilling scenario and has a solid specific weight of 76.6 kg/hl, combined with good sprouting resistance.”
“It meets specification for distilling and export, as well as being a biscuit wheat, so it offers northern growers a wide range of market opportunities.”
LG Prince, which is the highest yielding biscuit variety on the RL, is suitable for early and late drilling spots, and also performs well as a second wheat, he says.
“These are great packages; we know that UK farmers are very good at growing biscuit wheats and get really good results, but any of these varieties yield well enough to be grown as feed wheats too.”
Moving on to Group 4 wheats, Mr Granger points out LG Skyscraper is still the highest-yielding winter wheat available on the RL, and continues to deliver these high yields across all situations.
“It has bold grain quality with a high specific weight, and it is widely used by distillers and in soft grists, giving LG Skyscraper multiple market outlets.”
“The variety ticks all the boxes; it works in a first wheat or second wheat slot and because it is suitable for late drilling and quick off the blocks in terms of speed of growth, it is good if you are dealing with a black-grass situation.”
Its greatest asset is the fact its an earlier maturing variety, an important attribute for northern growers.
“Well established soft wheat LG Spotlight also continues to be popular as a soft wheat variety for distilling, with excellent grain quality for securing end use premiums.” Its high stable Hagberg combined with sprouting resistance and a great specific weight should not be underestimated for the north, where harvest can be catchy at the best of times.
Also on show were new promising Group 4 Candidate hard wheat varieties, LG Farrier and LG Typhoon.
“LG Typhoon has potentially one of the highest septoria resistance scores which makes it suitable for the north, and fits across wide drilling windows, including earlier drilling.”
“LG Farrier has consistently produced high yields combined with an excellent specific weight and high stable Hagberg , and has a good resistance profile for mildew and rusts.”
Of Limagrain’s winter barley varieties, LG Mountain is still at the top end of the highest yielding 2-rows, at 104% of control and appears to be the one to beat in the north (105) with its earlier maturity being valuable for northern growers.
“LG Mountain has consistently produced these high yields, since it was brought to the market in 2016, right through to 2020 – which is now recognised to be one of the most challenging growing seasons for many years.”
“This is a really important attribute in a variety, as growers know that whatever the season throws at them, it is able to cope.”
“Over this time, LG Mountain has also demonstrated its ability to produce high yields in both light and heavy soils, showing its flexibility within the rotation.”
“This excellent yield resilience can be attributed to the variety’s good agronomic characteristics of short straw, good disease resistance, earlier maturity and great grain quality,” he adds.
