Winter Wheat Trials 2023: is drilling time important?

Winter Wheat Trials 2023: is drilling time important?

With the increasing volatility of seasonality we are experiencing, this year we are focusing on drilling time for our Winter Wheat Trials 2023.

Once again we are back at Mountfair Farm, near Duns in the Scottish Borders. Thanks to the Grimsdale family for continuing to accommodate and support the Winter Wheat trials year-on-year.

Our autumn-sown trials remain crucial, giving us the scope to look at a wide range of varieties within the main drilling window. With many farmers locally and further north looking to establish winter wheat in the first half of September, we particularly wanted to take a closer look at how this affects the performance of some of our best-selling varieties.

On September 5, ten winter wheat varieties were drilled and, later, on September 29, the 20 remaining plots were sown, both into favourable soil conditions and with plenty of moisture. The seed treatments were all SPD (single purpose dressing), the majority of them being Beret Gold (applied at MSP Seed Plant).

Seed Production Controller Ryan Dunn bags winter wheat seed at MSP Seed Plant

Within the selection of varieties that have gone into the early-sown plots, we have some that are perfectly suited to early sowing with a slow speed of development, like Graham, while others are extremely vigorous and therefore less well suited, such as KWS Extase.

We also have those, such as KWS Barrel, that have the slow speed of development required for early sowing, albeit with declining resistance to Septoria which will then take more management during the growing season.

Alongside this, we selected several promising candidate varieties, some of which may make the AHDB Recommended List in November. We look forward to tracking and discussing their development as the season progresses.

The plots will receive a herbicide for weed control and a robust fungicide programme, including T0, T1, T2, and T3 applications.

Throughout the season our technical team will monitor the development of varieties across both trials, paying close attention to speed of establishment in the autumn and spring, disease scoring through the summer and speed of maturity as we approach harvest.

We will be hosting our annual Open Night in June 2023. Not only will customers be invited to tour the plots and listen to the thoughts of our FACTS and BASIS qualified agronomists, but also our expert advisors will give their opinions on variety choices for 2024.

Can’t make it? Don’t worry! Our Virtual Trial Tour will be returning again this year. Our seed and agronomy experts will share their thoughts and opinions on this year’s trials to assist your 2024 varietal choices.

To view the individual varieties on display at our trials in 2022, click on the corresponding links below:

UKFM GROUP 2

KWS Extase
KWS Palladium

UKFM GROUP 3

KWS Barrel
KWS Firefly
LG Illuminate
LG Astronomer
KWS Brium
KWS Guium

SOFT GROUP 4

LG Skyscraper
LG Spotlight
KWS Jackal
Elation
Revelation
RGT Saki
Swallow
RGT Bairstow
RGT Stokes

HARD GROUP 4

Grafton
Graham
Gleam
SY Insitor
RGT Wolverine
Champion
KWS Dawsum
LG Typhoon