tatoes on at most a one-in-eight rotation, and 80ha let for onions and parsnips. “We try to produce as much first wheat as possible, because a second cereal is not ideal on this light land.”
“Growing winter wheat seed commercially works well because ground can be ploughed or min- tilled late after root crops. This reduces the incidence of disease and aphids, allowing clean seed crops to be produced, says Mr Hogsbjerg. “Being inland, we don’t have any major disease issues and compared with many other farms our spray programme would be considered fairly light.”
Lower fungicide spend Enabling spraying decisions to be further refined through fewer, more timely applications based on crop requirements rather than traditional timings is a key aim, says Mr Hogsbjerg. Another reason he wants to grow more cereal varieties with greater in-built disease resistance
“
Given the year, I was pleased with the outcome
is to reduce the pressure on the 24m self-propelled sprayer. “We grow a significant area of potatoes and it goes through the crop every seven to 10 days, as well as applying liquid fertil- isers. We don’t want the added pressure of unplanned fire-en- gine sprays to protect suscepti- ble cereal varieties.” This season, Wicken Farms has contracted 150t of Theodore for seed production and the re- mainder of the 60ha being grown will be sold for feed. “DSV Theodore is a robust all- round variety with a good all- round disease package. It did all we wanted it to last season from a fungicide spend of just £70/ha. “Because of the very wet au- tumn and winter in 2019/20 it was early February before we could get on the land to drill our first crop of Theodore: 20ha for seed. “It was never going to be our highest-yielding crop but given the circumstances I was pleased with the outcome.”
Reduced costs This year, much of the variety was drilled in reasonable conditions following sugar beet on land that had been ploughed.
The crop went in on 17 Octo- ber using a combination drill and a “sensible” seed rate of 180kg/ha to provide 350-360 seeds/m2, says Mr Hogsbjerg. “Theodore was drilled at the right time, came out of winter looking in good and by mid-March was looking promising.” Sarah Hawthorne of seed
breeders DSV says the variety is very much in tune with the times because of its ability to cope with disease threats and potential for lower inputs.
“It also provides growers with
greater flexibility in terms of fun- gicide use when weather and oth- er commitments prevent perfect timing of applications. “Farmers are increasingly fo- cusing on the overall economics of growing a variety and its resil- ience in the face of adverse con- ditions rather than just its out- right yield potential. “DSV Theodore provides hope that genetics will be able to re- place the sprayer to a larger de- gree in the future.” In the 2021/22 RL, DSV Theo- dore has the highest septoria re- sistance score of all listed varie- ties at 8.3.
LG PRINCE WINTER WHEAT
Introducing the Highest Yielding Recommended Group 3
@LGSeedsUK
lgseeds.co.uk/lg-prince
Tel: 01472 371471
lgseeds.co.uk enquiries@limagrain.co.uk
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