January 6, 2011

Gallant tops list of new wheat varieties being tried by UK growers

According to a new survey, Gallant is the most popular among almost two-thirds of UK growers that are trying new wheat varieties this year.

The survey which was conducted by the National Farm Research Unit (NFRU) found that out of 1475 farmers, other popular wheat additions were the Group three's Scout and Group four's Duxford, JBDiego, Oakley and Viscount.

With oilseed rape, 23% of respondants were growing new varieties with DK Cabernet being the most popular addition (30% of growers), says NFRU's says Jim Williams. Other varieties being grown for the first time were Vision (14% of growers) and Excalibur (8%).

Williams also highlighted regional differences. For example, arable farmers in Yorkshire and Humberside being the real early adopters, with 35% of them growing new wheat this year.

"Regions less likely to grow a new winter wheat were the North West Region (21%), Scotland (22%) and the South West (24%)," he said.