Percy Farms, a successful 1800ha arable farming business operating within Northumberland Estates near Alnwick, has recently added winter wheat varieties Bamford and Blackstone from Independent breeder Elsoms Seeds to its list of first wheats drilled for crop25 confirms Assistant Farm Manager Tom Ziemelis.

Explaining the decision to include both Elsoms varieties within the same rotation, Tom, who works for Velcourt Limited, confirms their inclusion is part of an ongoing business strategy to improve both winter wheat yields and grain quality creating further opportunities to achieve premiums.

Tom says” With an overall area of 800ha, winter wheat is very much our number 1 crop and we’re confident that the 2 new additions will make a significant contribution towards both grain quality and final yield outcomes from crop25 onwards.

“Group 4 soft wheat Blackstone was a straight replacement for LG Skyscraper which had begun to break down to both septoria and yellow rust over the last 2 seasons. With a wide drilling window and a solid set of resistance scores, including a 9 for yellow rust, we identified Blackstone in trials last year and eventually drilled 135ha on September 19^th at a seed density of 350 seeds m². Establishing well and showing its competitiveness against a high grassweed and broadleaf weed burden, Blackstone wintered well and kicked on again in late February following its first 90kg/ha split of N. By the time of our T0 fungicide application in early April it remained pretty clean with just a hint of yellow rust visible at the base of the crop.

“Our other new addition, Group 3 soft wheat Bamford, will slot in nicely as a higher yielding replacement for KWS Barrel and LG Astronomer, both of which now look outmatched on yield. Percy Farms has always had a strong business interest in growing Group 3’s and is part of a grain co-operative supplying the UK biscuit market so the future fit with Bamford looks, potentially, a very good one.

“Drilling 135ha on September 27^th at 375 seeds m², Bamford got away extremely well and, if anything, kicked on even more strongly than Blackstone following its 90kg/ha application of granular N on February 27^th. With 2 Elsoms varieties accounting for a combined area of 270ha, just over one third of our total wheat area, commercial expectations for premiums are high although this is balanced by the excellent grain segregation within the grain co-operative we supply. Each load can be sent to a multitude of bins with different targets for premiums including both biscuit and distilling with the backstop of a high-yielding feed wheat for any load that may not make specification” concludes Tom.

Clare Leaman, Cereals Variety Specialist for NIAB, adds” With a very wide drilling window Blackstone can allow Bamford and many other winter wheats to be drilled and harvested at their optimum times. On risk management, it offers Orange Wheat Blossom Midge (OWBM) resistance so it’s a good fit alongside varieties such as Bamford that are not OWBM resistant. I can see many scenarios where both Elsoms varieties could work well together within larger rotations”.