Organic wheat thrills near Tewkesbury
Carl Grey is thrilled with his organic wheat yields at Grange Farm, Bredon, Gloucestershire, with all crops coming in at or above budget.
Invicta, grown for seed, topped the table, yielding 7.3t/ha. (2.96t/acre) – the highest organic yield the farm has seen for at least 10 years.
“I would normally expect to get about 6.2t/ha (2.5t/acre) off the organic wheats; if I could get this every year I’d be a rich man.
“I think the success of this crop comes down to it going in after three years of pasture and white clover, and good establishment conditions.
“The medium loam soils were ploughed, cultivated and then drilled on 12 October at 185kg/ha, 46TGW,” he added.
“The crop established well, and did not suffer during the winter, the snow seemed to insulate the crop from frost damage.
“The field was treated in the same way as the others, and being an organic crop of course did not have any nitrogen or fungicides.”
Ron Granger, wheat breeder at Limagrain, put the variety’s performance down to its large grain size and ability to hold onto tillers longer during the dry spring.
“By holding onto tillers later, slightly later developing varieties such as Invicta are better able to tolerate the drier conditions and are in a position to respond to later rains, whereas early varieties tend to lose their tillers early on and then struggle to catch up when conditions are dry.”
Claire came in on average at 6.2t/ha (2.5t/acre), said Mr Grey. “I think I will swap the acreage round this year to grow the bulk as Invicta and one or two fields of Claire.”
Brochan oats also exceeded expectations by about 1.2t/ha (0.5t/acre), yielding 6.2t/ha (2.5t/acre). “The year really seems to have suited the oats.
“It’s been a very easy harvest, because we haven’t had the rain that the Eastern Counties had in August.”
Crop: Organic winter wheat
Variety: Invicta
Area: 12.5ha (31 acres)
Yield: 7.3t/ha. (2.96t/acre)
Variety: Claire
Yield: 6.2t/ha (2.5t/acre)
Crop: Winter oats
Variety: Brochan
Yield: 6.2t/ha (2.5t/acre)
