- Location
- Essex Coast
My agronomist has some good connections with people at KWS who wanted to see if there are any differences in the performance of varieties in a no-till system compared to conventional in which they are normally breed and grown. They tried to pick a few varieties that have different growing characteristics, slow growing, good tillering, strong autumn vigour, etc.
I've done this for two years. Last year, 3013 it was a first wheat after peas.
Conqueror 8.9
Cordial 8.4
Target 7.7
Welford 8.0
Blend of all four 8.8
This year, 2014, second wheat on a really poor field. The top is what I would consider light sandy land which dries out in the summer, it then runs slightly down hill over what used to be a beach onto a march which was originally saltings. This was leveled by the War Ag so some is a sort of peaty material and the rest is bare clay, no top soil. Back when I used to do cultivations, these clay areas grew virtually nothing because it was impossible to make a seed bed, whereas now I get an even crop across the whole field. So pretty testing conditions.
Cordial 8.6
Conqueror 9.5
Croft 7.1
Welford 8.1
Target 8.6
Both years Conqueror has come out on top. It has some spring wheat breeding in it and grows very vigorously in the autumn and looks a bit too lush and floppy. It also grows taller than anything else, so must have less dwarfing genes and I would presume grows deeper roots. It therefore seems that this early vigour and deep rooting are what suits no-till, making up for the lack of nutrient mineralization at drilling time. Needless to say I have ordered some Conqueror seed to drill this year.
Welford is an extremely short variety, it was the first to be OBM resistant, which was a big help to me when it came out and has performed well over the years. However it is very slow to get going in the spring and probably has quite shallow roots so it appears that it's not that well suited to no-till.
Interesting that the blend last year did better than the average of all four.
The Croft was let down badly on the light top part of the field. We had a dry period in March and April when it lost all it's tillers and looked like it was going to completely die. It was OK on the marsh and the others survived much better beside it on the light land.
I've done this for two years. Last year, 3013 it was a first wheat after peas.
Conqueror 8.9
Cordial 8.4
Target 7.7
Welford 8.0
Blend of all four 8.8
This year, 2014, second wheat on a really poor field. The top is what I would consider light sandy land which dries out in the summer, it then runs slightly down hill over what used to be a beach onto a march which was originally saltings. This was leveled by the War Ag so some is a sort of peaty material and the rest is bare clay, no top soil. Back when I used to do cultivations, these clay areas grew virtually nothing because it was impossible to make a seed bed, whereas now I get an even crop across the whole field. So pretty testing conditions.
Cordial 8.6
Conqueror 9.5
Croft 7.1
Welford 8.1
Target 8.6
Both years Conqueror has come out on top. It has some spring wheat breeding in it and grows very vigorously in the autumn and looks a bit too lush and floppy. It also grows taller than anything else, so must have less dwarfing genes and I would presume grows deeper roots. It therefore seems that this early vigour and deep rooting are what suits no-till, making up for the lack of nutrient mineralization at drilling time. Needless to say I have ordered some Conqueror seed to drill this year.
Welford is an extremely short variety, it was the first to be OBM resistant, which was a big help to me when it came out and has performed well over the years. However it is very slow to get going in the spring and probably has quite shallow roots so it appears that it's not that well suited to no-till.
Interesting that the blend last year did better than the average of all four.
The Croft was let down badly on the light top part of the field. We had a dry period in March and April when it lost all it's tillers and looked like it was going to completely die. It was OK on the marsh and the others survived much better beside it on the light land.
