High-performing winter wheat tops all previous yields recorded since trials began in 2017

Group 3 winter wheat Bamford achieved a yield of 12.2t/ha, the highest ever recorded yield for any variety in the 8 year history of the GrainCo continuous wheat trial, according to Yorkshire farmer Steve Buckle and Peter Collins, Seed Manager for GrainC

The trial, hosted by Steve on his 115ha farm at Boroughbridge, near York, assessed 17 winter wheats, all drilled on 0.5 acre plots during the 2^nd week of October with all varieties receiving exactly the same input regime.

Steve says” The plots are all drilled on the same free-draining soil on the same date to make it as level a playing field for all the varieties as we can. Although 1 or 2 breeders might argue that early October isn’t necessarily an optimum date for a very early drilling type, it’s a date that shouldn’t disadvantage any winter wheat in my opinion.

“We’re not trying to duplicate the great work of the Recommended List trials. The key difference here is that we are annually evaluating how varieties perform in a continuous wheat situation, given that the field we use for the plots is in continuous wheat.

“I originally began exploring continuous wheat using a single field in year 2000, some 24 years ago. That original field is still in continuous wheat now, a testament to its success and my belief in the financial benefits of the system. Although little more than an agronomic concept to begin with, the idea grew as I watched the British Sugar Factory near York close in 2007, then experienced how much more difficult growing oilseed rape became after the neonicotinoid ban in 2018.

“They had been my 2 major break crops and, with pulses being agronomically challenging to grow in my area and never as profitable as second wheats, the idea of only growing milling wheats didn’t seem so outlandish – particularly on smaller farms like mine where you can’t drill large areas of break crops to make a decent tonnage. For example, if I grew 12ha of oilseed rape, it would only be 1 lorry load of seed off the combine.

“Although Bamford, from Independent UK seed breeder Elsoms Seeds, topped the yields I wasn’t particularly surprised. When we held the trials open day on June 20^th it was the most impressive looking plot. So, when the final set of grain quality data came through showing a specific weight of 78.2kg/hl, a Hagberg falling number of 300 and a protein content of 9.5% it underlined how well Bamford had performed” confirms Steve.

Peter Collins, the original driving force behind the GrainCo continuous wheat trials, adds” Although continuous wheat is often seen as a controversial topic, there’s no denying that it holds up as a successful business concept for delivering consistent profit margins.

“Second wheats are still one of the most profitable crops, but there are also other additional benefits to continuous wheat such as easier planning, less machinery kit to consider and fewer establishment decisions. That said, successful continuous wheat does rely on delayed drilling, use of seed treatments to tackle take-all and use of glyphosate to destroy the green bridge presented by high weed burdens and volunteers left by the previous wheat crop. It won’t suit everyone.

“Steve has found a niche system that works for him, and I can see continuous wheat working for other smaller farms - particularly those with little or no blackgrass, who struggle to achieve good margins on other break crops and who simply want to maximise their profits.

“Variety selection for anyone looking at continuous wheat also has to be a major consideration. Selecting varieties with the right autumn growth habit and speed of development is key, as well as those that display good early vigour enabling them to complete well against high weed burdens, coupled with a solid overall disease resistance package.

Bamford, which topped the yields on this year’s trials, ticks all those boxes and has established itself as a very resilient winter wheat with the right type of profile for use as a second wheat. The GrainCo trial has also shown that it yields extremely well in a continuous wheat system. Overall, it appears to be a very high-yielding and flexible variety” concludes Peter.