Following the challenging 2023/24 season, Syngenta is urging growers to manage risk with their drilling and variety decisions.
Matthew Bull, seeds technical manager, last season’s establishment was characterised by delayed drilling, intense septoria pressure and stunted root growth due to waterlogging.
As such, it’s important to take these risks, as well as others, into account for this year.
“Septoria is exacerbated by early drilling,” he says. “So if planning to drill early this autumn, look for varieties that have shown reliable Septoria resistance. This isn’t a guarantee that Septoria won’t develop, but it can buy some time against the disease if fungicide sprays are delayed.
“Also, look for other variety characteristics that are important if drilling early, such as stiff straw. Earlier planting increases lodging risk as it encourages taller growth.”
For feed wheat growers, he recommends Graham as a good option for earlier drilled first wheat, thanks to its robust septoria resistance. As it was developed in a French breeding programme, Matthew notes that its unusual genetics hold up well in UK conditions.
“Also important, Graham is slow growing over winter with a prostrate growth habit and late to reach the stem elongation stage, which helps protect it against frost risk. If a fast-developing variety is planted early, there’s a risk of late frosts damaging the young ears as they develop inside the plant during stem elongation, which can compromise yield. A variety that’s late to start elongating is also less likely to grow tall, lowering its lodging risk.
“In farm situations, Graham has outperformed what you might expect from its AHDB Recommended List (RL) ranking, and its early maturity can spread harvest risk. With later-maturing varieties that start grain-filling later, yield can be affected if hot summers cause crops to die off prematurely,” he adds.
For later drilled crops, Matthew recommends SY Insitor, especially for feed or second wheat. On the RL, it is ranked the highest for yields on light soils, meaning it can also be a useful follower to root crops.
“SY Insitor also roots well, which is important if drilling later and on light land. The almost ceaseless rain and waterlogged soils during the first half of the 2023/24 season resulted in a lot of shallow-rooted wheat crops, because they didn’t need to grow deep to find moisture. In these situations, a variety that naturally roots well offers added security if it later turns dry,” he adds.
For more information go to www.syngenta.com