Spring wheat seed

[Wombat]

My understanding is it’s all been sold out long ago

I tried to get spring wheat seed from 2 merchants mid Nov and they were sold out then

 

[Sonoftheheir]

Just as an aside, is the imported stuff varieties that are on our recommended list? Or totally different?

 

[grommet]

I think it's pretty tight of them in a year like this when folk have bought certified seed and been stuck with it or its drilled and failed. Lost 25 acres of bought in rape seed myself, more the fool me for doing the right thing.
I'm squeaky clean by the way so no need for the threatening phone calls again. But from now on its all off the heap royalties paid, not bought in expensive rubbish.

With loss of seed dressings that were any use you would think seed prices would come down a bit but oh no, muggins the farmer has to absorb the cost and risk and failures yet again while everybody else in the chain just ups their prices a bit.

So in an ideal situation, if the farmer has a bad year then the merchants would drop the price? so if the farmer had a good year would the merchant be able to up the price?
i am assuming that the same drilling losses down to weather are felt by the breeders / merchants too..?

 

[Poacher]

Just as an aside, is the imported stuff varieties that are on our recommended list? Or totally different?

Hi Sonoftheheir,

The majority of the spring wheat seed imported will be of varieties NOT on our Recommended List. Reason being there are only a couple of varieties on our Recommended List that have achieved the same status on another countries Recommended List. Those of us importing spring wheat make every effort to source varieties that are currently on the UK Recommended List or have been on the UK Recommended List, hence there being such a lot of Tybalt imported. However, these varieties have now been exhausted and no longer available. Our advice is to ask for varieties where available have some UK Trials data albeit they didnt attain UK Recommendation. There are many European varieties that have gone through UK Official Trials and if they completed 2 years will have UK National Listing. Despite some of them not making the Recommended List it may well have been a marginal decision as to why they didnt and they would perform absolutely fine over here. A good example would be RGT Doubleshot which has proven performance in UK Trials and on farm and if Im not mistaken still Recommended in Eire.

In the Spring of 2012 we imported over 2,600 tonnes of certified spring seed with one being a Czech Spring Wheat called TERCIE. I think about 400 tonnes was sown in the UK and the only comments we received after harvest were positive ones for both yield and quality. Ranks loved it and used a lot of the commercial grain as a Group 1 and came on asking for it in 2013 but there was no UK seed production of it, as it was only used as a stop gap the year before. Our experience of a number of spring wheat lines from the Czech Republic are that they almost always produce higher specific weights than our current Recommended List varieties, produce high proteins and hagbergs with yields much the same as our current varieties. A lot of their varieties are grown throughout Western, Central and Northern Europe over many countries. In essence, spring wheat does in general travel well but if you can access some UK data for them, all the better for your confidence in them.

Finally, for those who think merchants are profiteering from imported spring wheat stocks, theyre not.

They are making a margin, as you would expect but the cost price is not comparable to UK production. Firstly, those of us importing are doing so by the truck load. Not a couple of tonnes here and there, but a commitment to a full truck load at a time, to make it more econimically viable. Road transport from Czech / Poland etc is circa £90 - £110 per tonne for a truck load. It then has to be unloaded into a store and then re distributed in smaller quantities where its often a pallet line service which costs circa £40 - £60 per tonne pallet. Immediately you have an extra on cost of circa £170 per tonne. So for someone prepared to commit to buying lorry loads of seed at £12,000 per load to see a margin of circa £480.00 over the load isnt exactly taking the farmers leg up.

By all means contact me by PM if you would like to know anymore as we have imported spring stocks available and UK stocks of spring barley, oats, triticale and would be happy to help.

 

[Sonoftheheir]

Cheers @Poacher for your comprehensive reply.

 

[Cowcorn]

Hi Sonoftheheir,

The majority of the spring wheat seed imported will be of varieties NOT on our Recommended List. Reason being there are only a couple of varieties on our Recommended List that have achieved the same status on another countries Recommended List. Those of us importing spring wheat make every effort to source varieties that are currently on the UK Recommended List or have been on the UK Recommended List, hence there being such a lot of Tybalt imported. However, these varieties have now been exhausted and no longer available. Our advice is to ask for varieties where available have some UK Trials data albeit they didnt attain UK Recommendation. There are many European varieties that have gone through UK Official Trials and if they completed 2 years will have UK National Listing. Despite some of them not making the Recommended List it may well have been a marginal decision as to why they didnt and they would perform absolutely fine over here. A good example would be RGT Doubleshot which has proven performance in UK Trials and on farm and if Im not mistaken still Recommended in Eire.

In the Spring of 2012 we imported over 2,600 tonnes of certified spring seed with one being a Czech Spring Wheat called TERCIE. I think about 400 tonnes was sown in the UK and the only comments we received after harvest were positive ones for both yield and quality. Ranks loved it and used a lot of the commercial grain as a Group 1 and came on asking for it in 2013 but there was no UK seed production of it, as it was only used as a stop gap the year before. Our experience of a number of spring wheat lines from the Czech Republic are that they almost always produce higher specific weights than our current Recommended List varieties, produce high proteins and hagbergs with yields much the same as our current varieties. A lot of their varieties are grown throughout Western, Central and Northern Europe over many countries. In essence, spring wheat does in general travel well but if you can access some UK data for them, all the better for your confidence in them.

Finally, for those who think merchants are profiteering from imported spring wheat stocks, theyre not.

They are making a margin, as you would expect but the cost price is not comparable to UK production. Firstly, those of us importing are doing so by the truck load. Not a couple of tonnes here and there, but a commitment to a full truck load at a time, to make it more econimically viable. Road transport from Czech / Poland etc is circa £90 - £110 per tonne for a truck load. It then has to be unloaded into a store and then re distributed in smaller quantities where its often a pallet line service which costs circa £40 - £60 per tonne pallet. Immediately you have an extra on cost of circa £170 per tonne. So for someone prepared to commit to buying lorry loads of seed at £12,000 per load to see a margin of circa £480.00 over the load isnt exactly taking the farmers leg up.

By all means contact me by PM if you would like to know anymore as we have imported spring stocks available and UK stocks of spring barley, oats, triticale and would be happy to help.

Rgt Doubleshot dropped of the recommended list this spring replaced by kws Starlight and kws Talisker. Chliliam remains on the list. Doubleshot was a very good variety for the the last few years and a weakness for mildew was the only chink in its profile .Quintus a bearded wheat which was delisted last year was another solid variety which had the advantage of early ripening. Any variety that cuts the mustard over here with our wet climate should be a safe bet in the UK .

 

[Poacher]

Rgt Doubleshot dropped of the recommended list this spring replaced by kws Starlight and kws Talisker. Chliliam remains on the list. Doubleshot was a very good variety for the the last few years and a weakness for mildew was the only chink in its profile .Quintus a bearded wheat which was delisted last year was another solid variety which had the advantage of early ripening. Any variety that cuts the mustard over here with our wet climate should be a safe bet in the UK .

Thanks for the update Cowcorn. I was in Germany last week and eavesdropped on a conversion where someone had been supplying the UK with truck loads of Quintus but their supply had now run out. We are down to our last load and a half of Doubleshot and I think our European supply has run out of that variety too. Once February is here any Spring Wheat imports will have to be in other varieties. Interesting times.....