Farmer Focus: Farm-saved seed wheat blend tailored to farm conditions
© Emily Fleur With a kind start to October in south Devon, our winter wheat and barley crops went in nicely around the 10th of the month.
The wheat was sown direct into the linseed stubble with the Moore Unidrill and the barley disced before drilling into the wheat stubble with the same machine.Â
We’ve gone with a wheat blend again, which consists of Costello, Graham, Gleam, Extase, Theodore and Champion.
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Built up over the past three years through farm-saved seed, the wheats were initially of equal proportion, but I’m sure the varieties which suit the farm and system are now gaining dominance.
Which varieties they are now is a mystery to me. At some point it would be interesting to find out.
The seed was cleaned and tested to make sure it is free of disease, so it was drilled straight back in for the third year in a row.
We’ve steered away from barley yellow dwarf virus-tolerant varieties this year and returned to the two-row conventionals, deciding on Caravelle.
It received a nutrient seed treatment to help it through the winter, because as it is filling the second cereal slot, it is going to need a little help to reach its potential. We also added some compost and cattle manure.
Both crops rolled down well after drilling, which should keep at bay those pesky slugs that were hanging around after the linseed.
We are yet to spread a slug pellet on the farm and I am hoping not to start now, although it appears to be a high pressure year, so I won’t tempt fate.
Without oilseed rape and chopped straw in the rotation and using a bit of discing, we seem to be safe from slugs so far.
With ex-farm prices static at what feels like an underwhelming value, we are still holding on to the wheat from the 2022 harvest in hope of a better day. It turns out six months of hoping doesn’t increase the grain price. But tomorrow may be a better day.
