Farmers growing feedstock crops for anaerobic digestion (AD) plants to generate biogas for green electricity should consider growing hybrid barley as a way of spreading workloads and risk, for example in case of poor maize harvests.

That is the suggestion from Syngenta area business manager, Henrietta Wells, who says as growers plan this autumn's crop choices, Hyvido hybrid barley has a lot in its favour.

"Wholecrop Hyvido hybrid barley offers a flexible buffer crop to supplement maize in AD plants, grown either in addition to or instead of wholecrop rye," explains Ms Wells.

"In years when maize silage stocks are tight – which is potentially the case this season after many maize crops had a poor start – then more wholecrop hybrid barley can be included as a feedstock to supplement the maize. However, in seasons where maize silage is plentiful, a big benefit of hybrid barley is the flexibility to harvest it later as mature grain, rather than as wholecrop – with barley grain being relatively easy to sell compared with rye grain where marketing opportunities might be limited. Feed mills are used to handling barley, but might not have the separate storage capacity for rye."

Ms Wells says in numerous trials, Syngenta hybrid barley, with its hybrid vigour, has shown strong suppression of several key grass weed species. Another benefit with wholecrop hybrid barley can be its earlier harvest than rye and certainly than forage maize, she notes.

"An early harvested crop is useful on multiple counts," says Ms Wells. "Firstly, it provides early access to feedstock for the AD plant. Secondly, it spreads harvest workloads, which can be important if harvester capacity is limited. And thirdly, it allows a longer window for field cultivations and planting a following crop – which is useful if you want to establish an early cover crop," she adds.

"If you harvest early enough, there's also the potential to get wholecrop hybrid barley in before black-grass seed has shed – to reduce the amount of weed seed returned to the soil. A common target for wholecrop is to harvest once it reaches 35% dry matter.

"At the start of the season, the flexibility to drill Hyvido hybrid barley before winter wheat or winter rye also provides the opportunity to spread autumn workloads.

"Hybrid rye might produce slightly higher gas yields per tonne, but hybrid barley is a high-yielding crop and the agronomics of growing barley can be more familiar to growers.

"The high-yielding Hyvido hybrid barley, SY Kingsbarn, is a good option for wholecrop for AD, or possibly SY Nephin with its robust disease resistance if looking for something easier to manage. Hyvido hybrids are well proven on-farm for their robust growth habit," Ms Wells adds.