Oilseed rape
‘Ground-breaking’ variety available free to growers
F
ifty oilseed rape grow- ers will be able to grow commercial crops of two outstanding Recommended List candidate varieties free of charge ahead of their commer- cial launch in 2019. An
innovative Ground
Breakers programme unveiled at Cereals 2018 by UK breeder Dekalb will see 1.5 million seed packs of both DK Exsteel and DK Exstar made available to 50 growers for planting as part of their 2018/19 crop. The varieties have entered UK-wide Recommended List testing with stronge combina- tions of output and agronomic traits. This includes official light leaf spot resistance scores of 7 and 8 respectively, stem canker resistance scores of 8 and lodg- ing resistance scores of 8 and 9.
Yield protection
As well as the vigorous estab- lishment trait, both varieties are rapid to develop and carry dou- ble phoma and pod shatter re- sistance as part of an advanced yield-protection package, said Dekalb marketing manager, Mark Shaw, launching the pro- gramme at the Cereals Event. “In parallel to small plot test-
ing in official and distributor trials, we want to give a broad cross-section of growers across the country the opportunity to evaluate the varieties for them- selves at a field scale under their own production regimes. “We have designed Ground
Breakers to do just this. From all the growers formally regis- tering their interest in the pro- gramme we will select partici- pants giving the widest possible geographical coverage, range of growing conditions and estab- lishment regimes.”
Valuable feedback Mr Shaw said each grower will be supplied with a 1.5 million seed pack of both varieties com- pletely free of charge to sow this autumn in return for their com- mitment to provide the compa- ny with feedback on crop per- formance at key points in the growing season.
As well as giving those in- volved the opportunity to try the new varieties, Mr Shaw stressed that the new Deka- lb programme was designed to generate the most valuable guidance for UK growers as a whole to make the most of the varieties from 2019. “We see Ground Breakers
as bridging the major dispari- ty between OSR performance in small plot trials and commer- cial production. This will enable the varieties to be grown widely with the greatest possible con- fidence as soon as they become available commercially.”
To register your interest in the Ground Breakers initiative, visit
www.dekalb.co.uk/ dekalb-groundbreakers or email
dekalb.uk@monsanto. com.
New appointment for Corteva
William Corrigan has been ap- pointed as the new crop protec- tion sales manager for Corteva Agriscience, the agriculture di- vision of DowDuPont. Corteva says its future pipe-
line includes a game changing oilseed rape herbicide and new insecticides, cereal fungicides and herbicides. It says the prod-
34 ANGLIA FARMER • JULY 2018
ucts will benefit growers and give them an important addi- tional control option.
Mr Corrigan took up his
post on 1 June, stepping into the role vacated by John Hum- phreys who will retire at the end of 2018. Mr Corrigan is return- ing to the UK after leading the Irish business for four years.
Pod filling looks promising for
rape varieties • Good disease resistance in crop trials • Favourable weather during flowering • Expectations of good yield and quality
T
wo new oilseed rape vari- eties bred by independent oilseed rape breeder Mike
Pickford are looking particularly impressive this year. Elevation and Broadway are both standing out for their large pods, which is a good indicator of high yields. Crop plots are said to extremely promising at different trials sites across the country, ac- cording to DLF seeds. Clive Sutton, business de- velopment manager at the firm, says: “It hasn’t been the easiest growing season, but the weather during the flowering period was favourable, so the potential for high seed numbers is there.” Elevation has shown good dis- ease resistance in trials. “It has done exceptionally well in un- treated trials, which is incredi- bly important – we are confident that it will become a market-lead- ing choice for oilseed rape grow- ers,” says Mr Sutton.
High seed and pod num- bers are directly linked to yield, and Mr Pickford selected both va- rieties for their impressive yield performance, alongside good vig- our and disease resistance. Ele- vation averages 30+ seeds with a heavier thousand seed weight of 5.5-6g.
Robust performance Most conventional varieties only average 20-30 seeds per pod, says Mr Pickford. “I want to breed what the farmer wants; and you have to start off with good genet- ics – agronomy is the extra tool to realise that potential.”
Growers are being advised to base their autumn seed choices on robust, over-year trial results. Both Broadway and Elevation are new to the Northern AHDB Rec- ommended List 2018. But they are said to perform equally well further south. Elevation was the highest
JULY 20 Good agronomy is the tool to realise crop potential, says Mike Pickford.
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