Belepi or Mulika?

[Shutesy]

Considering dropping a standard early October sown 2nd wheat (feed) for a spring wheat. Have read threads on here about both Belepi and Mulika (Tybalt another option??).
Bit unsure which to go with if we did go down this route? Would be looking to drill in the spring to allow some Blackgrass control, strip tilled with a DTS either into stubble or a cover crop. Quite like the potential yield of Belepi but a bit worried if I can't get it in before the end of March due to its vernalisation requirement. Supposedly it tillers well and has big floppy leaves to help smother a bit of Blackgrass?
Mulika would give a bit more leeway with spring drilling date if wet again like this year? But not such vigorous tillering and less yield on average? I would be aiming to meet protein spec for milling I guess compared to Belepi as just a feed?
Thoughts and opinions welcome please.

 

[Bemo]

We have got some belipi which is a first winter wheat after potatoes and is looking good, if we can't get it in due to weather then we can always try and get it in in the spring, but I would go for a dedicated spring wheat in your situation.

 

[Marsh lad]

Considering dropping a standard early October sown 2nd wheat (feed) for a spring wheat. Have read threads on here about both Belepi and Mulika (Tybalt another option??).
Bit unsure which to go with if we did go down this route? Would be looking to drill in the spring to allow some Blackgrass control, strip tilled with a DTS either into stubble or a cover crop. Quite like the potential yield of Belepi but a bit worried if I can't get it in before the end of March due to its vernalisation requirement. Supposedly it tillers well and has big floppy leaves to help smother a bit of Blackgrass?
Mulika would give a bit more leeway with spring drilling date if wet again like this year? But not such vigorous tillering and less yield on average? I would be aiming to meet protein spec for milling I guess compared to Belepi as just a feed?
Thoughts and opinions welcome please.

I drilled my belepi 23rd of April this year and it's growing well , I've read lots of different information on the Internet some info says end March some says end April so I wouldn't take the dates as gospel , like this year Spring was not so much of farming by the calendar.

 

[Shutesy]

I drilled my belepi 23rd of April this year and it's growing well , I've read lots of different information on the Internet some info says end March some says end April so I wouldn't take the dates as gospel , like this year Spring was not so much of farming by the calendar.

Agree with not farming so much by the calendar but surely the chance of a cold spell for vernalisation once your into April is getting reduced? There was a decent cold snap from a vernalisation point of view this year I think so you'll probably be ok. I'd be a bit worried in future years drilling late then not getting that cold spell and just growing a crop of grass essentially.

 

[Marsh lad]

Agree with not farming so much by the calendar but surely the chance of a cold spell for vernalisation once your into April is getting reduced? There was a decent cold snap from a vernalisation point of view this year I think so you'll probably be ok. I'd be a bit worried in future years drilling late then not getting that cold spell and just growing a crop of grass essentially.

Yeah I think we may have been lucky this year ,
Depends also what you want the end use to be. least with the mulika you may get the milling grade.

 

[texelburger]

We planted a field of Belepi at the end of October and if it yields as well as it looks,i will be chuffed.Interestingly it hasn't romped ahead through the growth stages as quickly as i imagined it would,especially after reading various comments from growers. Maybe it will still ripen early and be one of the first to combine.
It has been a clean crop to grow with very little disease,especially Septoria which is a big plus for this area.

 

[Brisel]

Why wheat? If you want a competitive crop for weeds why not spring barley? Cheaper to grow and earlier to harvest.

 

[Shutesy]

Why wheat? If you want a competitive crop for weeds why not spring barley? Cheaper to grow and earlier to harvest.

Have already got spring barley in the rotation, could just increase the area of it instead of the 2nd wheat though, perhaps not such a bad idea.

 

[bovrill]

Why wheat? If you want a competitive crop for weeds why not spring barley? Cheaper to grow and earlier to harvest.

That's definitely not the case here. Spring barley has a smattering of blackgrass all over, whereas the Mulika is looking very clean at the moment.

Mind you, at 3cwt/ac of seed in Feb, I shouldn't think any weeds can find a gap to battle through to the light!

 

[jmc75]

I hear some people struggle with ergot in Mulika but I've never had a problem got some in this year and looking well

 

[Wombat]

I have some winter sown Belepi in, took a pounding in April but looking pretty good. At the moment it's no further forward than skyfall (I was expecting it to be a few weeks forward) big leaves and ears. I grew it in spring last year and combined the same time as all my winter wheats (end August) and it did well. I had a few acres in for Spring this year I drilled in March but April wrote it off. The only issue is the March 30th cut off as if you get a spring like this one your buggered

 

[D14]

If your going to plant either into January onwards then you really need to watch Gout Fly as it will halve your yield. 2 years out of 3 its caught us out with Mulika because when you can see them, its to late to act. We have temporarily dropped spring wheat for this year but next year we will have to do a routine insecticide early on to protect the crop as you are talking about 50% yield reduction.

 

[bovrill]

I hear some people struggle with ergot in Mulika but I've never had a problem got some in this year and looking well

Yes, big problem with ergot in the past.
I put it down to wet soil at flowering, which it has been both years I've grown it before.
There's been some Canadian work done on giving the plant plenty of copper, which I might try now the flag leaves are out.

 

[D14]

Yes, big problem with ergot in the past.
I put it down to wet soil at flowering, which it has been both years I've grown it before.
There's been some Canadian work done on giving the plant plenty of copper, which I might try now the flag leaves are out.

Yes Ergot is bad in true spring wheat. You can clean it out though for around £15/tonne, so if you sell it well it will still pay to clean it. This years crop was marketed at £138/tonne as a group 1.

 

[bovrill]

You can clean it out though for around £15/tonne.

Is that with one of those magic eye colour sorters?
A gravity separator will get most of it out if you're careful, but won't clean it completely.

 

[D14]

Is that with one of those magic eye colour sorters?
A gravity separator will get most of it out if you're careful, but won't clean it completely.

Yes agrii and re-so do it. I cannot recall the exact price per hour but I know all in with our tractors/trailers etc it cost £15/tonne and it does around 10 tonnes per hour. You need 3 trailers to feed, take away and collect the crap and at least one loader to keep the trailer filling the machine loaded. They send it with an operator and you will need two people yourself to make sure it keeps going.

 

[bovrill]

Yes agrii and re-so do it. I cannot recall the exact price per hour but I know all in with our tractors/trailers etc it cost £15/tonne and it does around 10 tonnes per hour. You need 3 trailers to feed, take away and collect the crap and at least one loader to keep the trailer filling the machine loaded. They send it with an operator and you will need two people yourself to make sure it keeps going.

Oh, so the cost of just the actual colour sorter wasn't £15/t, that included all your stuff too.
That sounds well worth doing.

 

[D14]

Oh, so the cost of just the actual colour sorter wasn't £15/t, that included all your stuff too.
That sounds well worth doing.

Yes but mainly labour and loader as the tractors hardly were started up and the trailers were not costed. I would have to check back but the more I think about it the more £12/tonne sound familiar but I know they charge by the hour so the emphasis is on you keeping it going to keep the output up. We clean some pretty badly affected wheat, although the ergot was quite large in size, so maybe easier to get out, but it took us 3 days to do 300 tonnes. I can't remember how long each day was or what the wastage tonnes was but yes it was worth doing as in that year we sold it at about £175/tonne. What you always seem tp get with Mulika is protein in abundance so tests of up to 15% protein are very normal from 160kg N and then a protein spray of 40kg.

 

[bovrill]

All my Mulika last year went to a coop store for blending, as it was up to around the 16% protein mark. Plus they cleaned the ergot out!

2014 it was mainly grass weed ergot in the sample, which is no problem as it's like needles and falls straight through a sieve.

 

[Marsh lad]

I have some winter sown Belepi in, took a pounding in April but looking pretty good. At the moment it's no further forward than skyfall (I was expecting it to be a few weeks forward) big leaves and ears. I grew it in spring last year and combined the same time as all my winter wheats (end August) and it did well. I had a few acres in for Spring this year I drilled in March but April wrote it off. The only issue is the March 30th cut off as if you get a spring like this one your buggered

What do you mean a spring like this one your buggered ??