Dalgety Trials Underline Major Gains from Better Second Wheat Management

August 28, 2004 - Combining the right variety and seed treatment in second and subsequent wheats could be worth more than 2.5 t/ha even in a relatively low take-all risk situation, reveal the latest results from the annual series of Dalgety Throws Farm trials.

This year's trials examined a total of 15 varieties grown as third wheats under three different seed treatment regimes on the farm's chalky boulder clay in Essex.

Later than normal sowing in early November and the wet growing season meant fewer apparent signs of take-all than in previous years. Despite this, however, a yield difference of 2.6 t/ha was recorded between the worst performing Recommended List variety (Robigus) receiving the standard single-purpose seed dressing and the best performer (Consort) with the specialist take-all treatment Latitude.

Along with Consort, Einstein, Richmond and Napier showed themselves to be the better-performing varieties while Xi19 and Claire joined Robigus as decidedly disappointing (Figure).

Across the 15 varieties, Latitude clearly stood out as the best seed treatment option, giving an average 0.5t/ha yield advantage over the standard seed dressing and generating an extra margin over seed treatment costs of more than £11/ha with wheat at £70/t.

"Once again our trials underline the extent to which second and subsequent wheat performance can be improved by good variety and seed treatment choice," pointed out Dalgety arable technical development manager, Mike Jeffes. "The results were complicated by differences in lodging between varieties. Even so, though, they were very much in line with our experience in previous years.

"Consort may be losing out to Robigus in overall plantings, but it should clearly continue to be preferred to it, as well as to Claire, outside the first wheat slot," he advised. "Amongst the RL varieties, Einstein, Richmond and Napier also appear to be especially good second wheat choices.

"In all cases, I would recommend treating even late-drilled seed with Latitude. For the second year running, the specialist take-all fungicide showed its particular worth in late season sowings. Overall, it delivered a 5.5% yield boost on the standard seed dressing, which was highly worthwhile economically.

"The fact that Latitude treatment gave better than average yield boosts with three of the four inherently better-performing second wheats - Einstein, Consort and Napier - further underlines the potential value of the variety/seed treatment interactions we've seen in previous years," added Mike Jeffes.

"Our overall advice for growers is plain and simple. If you want to consistently get the best value from your second wheats, choose one of the top-performing varieties in this slot and treat it with the specialist take-all seed dressing."

Figure 1: Third Wheat Variety and Seed Treatment Trials (Throws Farm 2004)

Variety Sibutol Only Latitude + Sibutol Treatment Difference Better Performing Consort 9.77 t/ha 10.35 t/ha 0.58 t/ha Richmond 9.50 t/ha 9.91 t/ha 0.41 t/ha Einstein 9.06 t/ha 9.96 t/ha 0.90 t/ha Napier 9.06 t/ha 9.59 t/ha 0.53 t/ha   Worse Performing Robigus 7.75 t/ha 8.14 t/ha 0.39 t/ha Xi19 8.37 t/ha 8.68 t/ha 0.31 t/ha Claire 8.46 t/ha 8.92 t/ha 0.46 t/ha   15 Variety Mean 8.94 t/ha 9.44 t/ha 0.50 t/ha