David Fuller

This did badly last year – it was very slow to get away in spring. In the 2011 harvest it did exceptionally well for us though: it was a better spring. This year though nasty east winds fried it in April but it still recovered. It seems less tolerant of bad conditions than the DK varieties and needs to be drilled earlier than the hybrids to get a better establishment and then hold that through the spring.

In 2012 we drilled in September and that was too late so this year we went in August. It will do 6T/ha when doing well but last year we only got 3T. Our 5 year average was 4.7 t/ha. it does have some problems with stem cankers but they are not a major problem for us as we treat sharply to control them. It has good Light leaf spot resistance.

This has accounted for the majority of our rape area and has done well. Its Achilles heel is standing ability especially if seed rates are above the optimum.

It yields well and is very vigorous in the autumn. This vigour is maintained in the spring.

We are no longer growing this variety and have replaced it with DH Extrovert.

We have grown this in the past on more difficult land. It will yield as well as or out-yield Cassia in poorer conditions than Cassia will tolerate – a heavier loamier soil and not ideal drainage.

It has done us well for 2 years now with little in the way of disease problems.

It copes better with extremes of weather and soils. Though it grows tall, it stands well

We have grown Cassia for 3 or 4 years now and it has proved good if you can get it well established. It has no major disease problems and has yielded 8.2T/ha on average.

It has given hybrids a run for their money when grown in the right soils.

We are now trying KWS Glacier as a possible replacement for the future.

Winter barley is really a management tool for us to allow us to establish OSR early but yield competes well financially with 2nd wheats.

We use Diego as a 2nd wheat and whilst it is not considered the highest yielder, we have found it similar to Viscount and without major problems.

We don’t get Brown Rust in the Borders so don’t have to worry about that susceptibility.

Overall it’s not the best but doesn’t let us down and yields are usually just above average.

We have struggled with Santiago for the last couple of years, mainly due to weather impact. In 2012 we suffered from Fusarium through the wet weather and then ended up drilling the 2013 crop in poor conditions. We are sticking with it it is high yielding but it is prone to disease so needs a high input of fungicides.

This year our average yield was 8.8T/ha but our 5 year average pre 2012 was 10+T/ha. The 2012 harvest was 30% down.

We are hoping for great things from Revelation. It is a bit later to harvest but is a slow developer so we should be able to sow earlier thus mitigate some of the lateness of harvest.

Good disease resistance with no obvious weaknesses will also give this variety an advantage.

This variety is good for early harvest so we can use it pre-OSR. We drill it in the last week of August after harvesting vining peas. It doesn’t lodge as it has a short stiff straw and has good yield.

In a cold spring it does seem to lose tillers so you need to be mindful of that on the seed rate and add probably 20% extra over say Claire. We did see a bit of Fusarium in the wet weather in 2012.

This is one of our main varieties and we have been growing it for about 5 seasons now.

Despite the bad seasons we have had it has been a consistent performer in terms of yield. It has not been particularly bad for disease though does have some Yellow Rust problems but with our 4 fungicide spray regime that is controllable. I have heard it is reputed to sprout but that hasn’t been an issue for us.

We are trying Leeds this year, a new variety to us but it is showing as one of the highest yielding in trials. It is said to suit northern conditions so might be a good replacement for Viscount.

Has been a mainstay variety with two key benefits, able to sow late after potatoes and beans but still early to harvest allowing for timely oilseed rape establishment. Milling spec reasonably easy to achieve due to its ability to hold its Hagberg during inclement weather.

Still has a place in the rotation for its early harvest although the closure of the local mill will limit its market outlets.

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