New winter feed barley Aleksandra from Agrovista has delivered impressive yields and excellent quality grain in Yorkshire after the toughest of seasons, recovering strongly from the effects of heavy and prolonged autumn and winter rainfall.
East Yorkshire-based agronomist Dan Janney looked after the crop, which was grown on heavy but fertile land near Beverley. He says it got off to a good start after being combi-drilled at the beginning of October following spring barley. However, heavy rain flooded six acres of the 26-acre field flooded.
Discounting the flooded area, Aleksandra yielded around the farm average of 9t/ha. Across the entire field it still achieved over 8t/ha, whilst producing a very bold, clean sample.
He thought he was going to lose the crop at one point, so early nitrogen applications were delayed. “It must have really scavenged for any nutrients that were there. When May arrived, it seemed to come into its own – it recovered very well and came back to life.”
It wasn’t the thickest crop but it yielded really well and the grain looked excellent,” says Dan. “The field had received quite a lot of FYM, but we applied trinexapac in mid-March and a month later at T1 and it stood absolutely fine. The straw was fantastic, which was important on this mixed farm.”
Aleksandra’s excellent disease resistance was severely tested given the season, but it came through with flying colours. The fungicide programme began in mid-March with prothioconazole, followed at T1 with Jaunt (fluoxastrobin + prothioconazole + trifloxystrobin) and Arizona (folpet). At T2 it had Jaunt again, plus foliar potassium as Wholly K.
“There was a little bit of rhynchosporium early on, but that was controlled well and the crop looked really clean for the rest of the season,” says Dan. “This is not a high-input farm, which is why the variety works so well here.
“Given the season the Aleksandra endured, the grower is really happy with it and so am I. It has done fantastically well.”
