A new hybrid winter feed barley that has again raised the bar for UK treated yield on the AHDB Recommended List is being launched to growers for this autumn.
Hyvido Belmont is the newest introduction from Syngenta’s well-established hybrid barley pipeline. It combines the top UK treated yield figure on the AHDB Recommended List of 111% of control varieties, equivalent to 10.66 t/ha, with other ‘hybrid benefits’, Syngenta seed campaign manager, Mark Bullen, points out.
“For a number of years, Hyvido hybrids have been bringing increasing levels of yield to winter barley growers,” says Mr Bullen. “At the same time, they are becoming widely adopted for their vigorous growth. This not only makes them resilient to a range of different growing environments, it is also a valuable tool for suppressing black-grass. Belmont continues this tradition.
“As well as providing the highest UK treated yield figure on the 2018/19 AHDB Recommended List, Belmont has also yielded consistently well over the last three years, and has performed on both heavy and light soils.
“Importantly, Belmont also combines its high yield with a good specific weight of 68 kg/hl to help with grain marketability. Plus, it provides robust resistance to the key diseases of Rhynchosporium and net blotch.
“Overall, we see Belmont as having particular appeal to growers looking to maximise yields with a reliable barley in areas where black-grass is a concern.”
From a practical viewpoint, Mr Bullen says the early maturity of winter barley also makes it an attractive alternative to growing second wheat in black-grass situations, by allowing longer to prepare stale seedbeds. It also provides an earlier opportunity for getting winter oilseed rape established against cabbage stem flea beetle, without a neonicotinoid seed treatment, he adds.
“An independent study commissioned by Syngenta, covering a six-year period and over 145,000 hectares of second wheat and barley, showed the average harvest date for winter barley was around a month earlier than that of second wheat,” points out Mr Bullen. “On average, hybrid barley was also harvested a day earlier than conventional feed barley.
“More interestingly, the average yield for oilseed rape planted after hybrid barley was 0.22 t/ha higher than when planted after second wheat. It was also 0.16 t/ha higher after hybrid barley than when planted after conventional barley,” he adds.
