Cereals 14: Limagrain to show oilseed rape variety Amalie

Taking centre stage on the Limagrain stand at Cereals 2014 will be Limagrain UK’s oilseed rape variety Amalie, the only OSR variety which has single gene resistance to Turnip Yellows Virus (TuYV). The variety has completed NL trials and will be considered for RL trials in 2014-15, which will be the first year without neonicotinoid seed treatments, so is a real solution to growers and agronomists in the fight against aphid-borne TuYV.

At the event growers will be able to find out more about growing the variety and the benefits of its TuYV resistance in the battle against this yield robbing disease.

New and existing wheat varieties will be exhibited at Cereals. Visitors will be able to see recently recommended wheat varieties, the highest yielding hard Group 4 Evolution, soft Group 4 Panacea and Group 3 Zulu. “This is a great opportunity for growers to find out more about growing and marketing these exciting varieties,” notes Ron Granger of Limagrain.

Also on the Limagrain stand are three wheats that are up for recommendation in 2014: soft feed wheat Jorvik and two biscuit wheats Britannia and Energise.

Jorvik has a high yield potential showing similar yields to feed wheat leaders KWS Santiago and yields 2% above JB Diego. Jorvik also has good grain quality attributes, offering good specific weight and Hagberg Falling Number and suitability for several market outlets.

It is a tall strawed variety with good lodging resistance and has one of the highest ratings for septoria tritici and yellow rust. The variety is also resistant to WOBM.

Limagrain has a reputation of providing growers with good biscuit making varieties such as Invicta and Zulu, and this success goes from strength to strength with the breeding of two new varieties in this category, Energise and Brittania.

Energise offers high yield potential, performing particularly well in the north, with the added combination of good agronomic traits that are desirable in this harsher environment.

As a short strawed variety with good lodging resistance and the combination of high tillering, a prostrate growth habit and later ear development in the spring we would suggest the variety may be a possible candidate for the early drilling sector.

Britannia is also a high yielding Group 3. Similar in height to Invicta and JB Diego, the variety is moderately stiff strawed, and is similar in ripening maturity to Scout. Britannia also offers a very good disease resistance profile, with a 9 for yellow rust resistance and a rating of 7 for septoria combined with good grain quality attributes.

Visitors to Limagrain at Cereals will have the chance to enter the’ Evolution’ competition to win an all-expenses paid trip to Denmark. “This is a great opportunity for three farmers and their agronomists to visit Denmark and see how wheat breeding and growing is carried out under a lower input system typical of that used in Denmark, and how it may be applied to UK production systems,” says Ron Granger of Limagrain.

Breeders from across the arable portfolio and Limagrain representatives will be on hand to provide information on all Limagrain varieties.

Meanwhile for anyone who has missed breakfast, the first 750 visitors to the Limagrain stand on both days of Cereals will be invited to sample or take away biscuits milled from Zulu wheat either for themselves, or dog biscuits for their pets back home.