Based on the highest yields, a feed wheat, winter barley and oilseed rape from breeders Limagrain UK, take poll position in the 2019-2020 AHDB Recommended List, alongside three other varieties offering excellent quality attributes.
LG Skyscraper takes leading position as the highest yielding wheat, LG Spotlight gains recommendation as a soft milling feed with exceptional grain quality and LG Detroit joins the Group 2’s, based on its yield potential and Crusoe-like quality.
Winter barley LG Mountain sits at the top of the barley list as the highest yielding two row barley in the north and LG Flynn follows slightly behind on yield with a very high specific weight.
Conventional oilseed rape variety Aspire offers the highest UK seed yield of all varieties on the AHDB List 2019-2020.
Wheats
LG Skyscraper
For the first time in over a decade, a soft wheat now tops the Recommended List at 106% over control; LG Skyscraper is a real breakthrough with an automatic recommendation based on a yield which is a clear 2% above all other varieties.
“This is not a one off performance – LG Skyscraper has consistently performed over the past three contrasting years in official trials and with its high specific weight, good disease resistance plus midge resistance, it is well suited to all regions of the UK,” says Ed Flatman, senior wheat breeder with Limagrain UK.
“The variety has particular interest for growers in the north, with grain suitable for distilling and mid-early maturity. LG Skyscraper’s early maturity offers growers elsewhere the advantage of top yields combined with the flexibility to spread harvest workloads, which is a rare attribute as highest yields often tend to be the result of extended grain fill from late maturity – which is not the case for LG Skyscraper.”
As it’s a variety suited to the main sowing window and onwards, based on its growth and development – early sowing should be avoided, points out Mr Flatman.
LG Spotlight
LG Spotlight, at 104%, sits within the group of top hard feed varieties on the new Recommended List. The variety offers an exceptional combination of high yields, stiff straw and excellent physical grain quality.
“LG Spotlight’s grain quality is impressive, with an average specific weight above 78 and Hagberg approaching 300; a combination not seen before in soft wheat.
“What underlies this high Hagberg is one of the highest levels of sprouting resistance normally only seen in top quality bread varieties, giving growers security when erratic weather conditions delay harvest, says Mr Flatman.
LG Spotlight has the best overall combination of top yield and stiff straw; both with and without PGR, of any variety on the List.”
LG Detroit
LG Detroit is a variety with good consistent Group 2 milling quality – superior to others in this sector, and with characteristics similar to many of the current Group 1 varieties.
LG Detroit’s physical grain quality is good, and it has a high specific weight and Hagberg. The impressive attribute is its grain protein which, like it’s parent Crusoe, is consistently almost half a percent above the average expected at any yield. This is due to enhanced conversion of applied nitrogen into grain protein.
“In the field, the variety has a good foliar resistance profile, with the benefit of the best available level of Fusarium resistance. For a bread quality wheat, it also has the significant advantage of resistance to OWBM, with Skyfall being the only other choice,”Says Mr Flatman.
Overall, LG Detroit provides an excellent combination of grower and end user benefits, thus establishing itself in the Group 2 sector.
Barley
“Interest in high yielding 2 row winter barleys remains strong, despite the introduction of 6 row hybrids. Growers of 2 rows particularly favour varieties with good specific weight that produce big quantities of quality straw. LG Mountain and LG Flynn should exactly fit the bill,” says Les Daubney, marketing director for arable seeds for Limagrain.
LG Mountain is the highest yielding 2 row variety in the north, with a yield of 105%, and therefore competing with the hybrids. This, combined with early maturity and good specific weight, makes LG Mountain an excellent choice for growers in this region.
LG Flynn is also very high yielding, being particularly strong in the west (at 104%), where much of the 2row feed barley is grown. The variety has a very high specific weight, (69.7 kg/hl), combined with stiff straw and good disease resistance. This is an excellent all-round package for both grain and straw production.
Oilseed Rape
Aspire
The UK-based Limagrain oilseed rape breeding programme continues to create varieties specifically tailored to the needs of UK growers. As a result of this focussed approach, Aspire has achieved a UK wide recommendation as the highest yielding conventional variety – outperforming well established varieties in both regions.
“The high yield and oil genetic potential of the variety is coupled with a really attractive agronomic package. With a very robust 7 for light leaf spot and a 6 for stem canker plus TuYV resistance, this is a disease package that suits every situation, anywhere in the country,” says senior oilseed rape breeder, Vasilis Gegas.
“On top of all of this, Aspire is a short variety with the highest possible score for stem stiffness.”
