Wheat variety and cooler, wetter growing seasons.

[N.Yorks.]

Do plant breeders publish information on how resilient a given wheat (or other crop) variety is to climate?

Can varieties be ranked on their ability to cope with cooler and wetter growing seasons?

 

[Farmer Miggins]

surely, if there is a trend to wetter seasons, this will be reflected in RL results and regional NL trials

 

[Feldspar]

Do plant breeders publish information on how resilient a given wheat (or other crop) variety is to climate?

Can varieties be ranked on their ability to cope with cooler and wetter growing seasons?

Join NIAB TAG - they've got some good data on exactly this question. Very useful stuff and nicely presented IMO.

 

[N.Yorks.]

surely, if there is a trend to wetter seasons, this will be reflected in RL results and regional NL trials

OK perhaps I should have been more specific.

What about varieties that can cope with not just a trend to the cooler wetter but also dryer conditions. i.e. varieties that can cope better with the potential wider variability in temperature and moisture?

 

[N.Yorks.]

Join NIAB TAG - they've got some good data on exactly this question. Very useful stuff and nicely presented IMO.

What's the rough summary without giving the whole story away?

 

[Feldspar]

What's the rough summary without giving the whole story away?

Some varieties do well in both extremes of wet and dry, for example JB Diego IIRC. Some do particularly well in very dry but not very wet. Others in very wet but not very dry. Some do well, but only in 'normal' conditions.

 

[N.Yorks.]

What about mixing varieties in field so that with a given set of conditions there is a variety that will do well?

 

[Feldspar]

What about mixing varieties in field so that with a given set of conditions there is a variety that will do well?

I tried that last year (mainly for disease reasons though), but our yield meter wasn't working that well so don't have any clear lessons other than that the mixture didn't have much lower disease or obviously more yield that straight Santiago. Mixture was Kielder, Gator, Diego and Santiago IIRC. @Simon Chiles probably has more of an insight.

I would say if you're on heavy soils like we are you're most worried about it being too wet and so pick a variety that does well in the wet. If you're on light soils find one that does well in the dry. Given there are varieties that perform well at both extremes, if they meet your other requirements, then they seem to give the best of both worlds.

 

[Brisel]

Some varieties do well in both extremes of wet and dry, for example JB Diego IIRC. Some do particularly well in very dry but not very wet. Others in very wet but not very dry. Some do well, but only in 'normal' conditions.

I agree. Diego & Santiago are two very consistent varieties in this respect. They did well in 2012 compared to some of the others despite no real disease strengths. As you say, NIAB TAG do have some interesting results from medium term trials on consistency.

 

[Roger TL]

Does anyone know of a variety that does well on light soils in a dry year?

 

[average farmer]

Does anyone know of a variety that does well on light soils in a dry year?

I seem to remember Grafton doing well in this situation but that was a few years ago now.

My best looking wheat this year are mixed seed and not always on the better fields. my best yielding later drilled stuff was mixed last year to but only as I wanted to get rid of a bit of 2 or 3 year old deter dressed Oakley so we drilled it twice and think it had a very high seed rate as we wasn't sure if the oakley would grow.

 

[yellow belly]

Pay niabtag they have the trial results

 

[robbie]

What would it cost to join to have access to there publications?

 

[Shutesy]

What would it cost to join to have access to there publications?

https://members.niab.com/page/join