In an uncertain world, one of things that we can be sure of is that fewer chemicals will be available to growers to tackle the dangers posed by pests and diseases in our cereal crops. At this year’s Croptec, Cope Seeds will be launching a new brand of seed, Excel that guarantees no blackgrass and improved germination and purity.

Currently producers of seed have two standards that they can work to – the EEC Minimum standard or the HVS, Higher Voluntary Standard.  In neither of these standards is there a specific requirement for the seed to be blackgrass free.  Equally both standards have a germination requirement of just 85% where the Excel standard is going to guarantee a minimum germination of 95%.  This means that where the farmer is drilling to a specific seed number per square metre there is much more certainty about the number of seeds that will germinate and, therefore, the number of plants available for establishment.

How can Cope Seeds be so confident in these promises?

Excel seed will be grown by specialist producers who only use clean ground, will be inspected by our own licensed inspectors and will be treated in small seed plants where attention to detail can be assured.  Growers of Excel seed have to pass a rigorous inspection to ensure that they will be able to supply the quality product that is required. 

The launch of any standard like this must show that it is making a real difference and that means that some crops will fail.  Currently we are launching with spring cereal varieties and it is expected that only about 10% of the seed available this spring will reach Excel standard.

For 2017, the spring barley varieties grown under Excel conditions are Evelina and Planet.  Planet tops the recommended list for yield despite it being an approved malting variety.  It has good straw strength and lodging resistance and a good disease package.  Evelina is a semi exclusive variety with good grain and straw yield and excellent disease resistance.

*Sample results based on the Official 1kg search

The spring wheat varieties that will be available as Excel are Anabel and the ever popular, Mulika and the Excel spring oat will be Aspen.

Excel seed will be launched at Croptec in Peterborough and more information about this exciting and important development can be obtained from Cope Seeds at the event. Because seed will be limited, early ordering will be needed to guarantee supply.

CropTec 2016

Make sure to visit Cope seeds on stand 151 at this year's event.

UK farmers and merchants now have a new source of competitive agricultural varieties that challenges the status quo of established suppliers. Elsoms Seeds and Saaten Union have an impressive range of AHDB recommended and candidate cereals and oilseeds varieties, combined with a strong position in the burgeoning energy crop sector, a market leading hybrid cereals development programme, and a growing vining pea business.

 Over recent years, farmers have seen a steady reduction in the number of significant suppliers of new products and varieties to the market. Elsoms have reversed this trend by working with similarly innovative, independent, specialist and technically strong businesses across Europe to build a portfolio of impressive arable varieties that is now attracting strong interest from across the industry.

“The strength of the Elsoms programme is underlined by our wide range of wheat varieties that are available to farmers in 2017” said Adrian Hayler, Head of Elsoms Agricultural Division.  “This currently includes four AHDB candidate wheats, Bennington, Moulton, Freiston and Dunston, early maturing & high yielding AHDB recommended variety Belgrade, specialist alternative milling wheat Lennox as well as hybrid wheats Hybery and Hylux.”

 “The launch of Trinity oilseed rape three years ago heralded the resurgence of our agricultural business,” commented Mark Nightingale, Elsoms Oilseed Rape Breeder. “This year we have built on this success with Elgar, newly recommended by AHDB, which has taken a major share of winter oilseed rape whilst AHDB candidate Skye has made a good start, being marketed exclusively by United Oilseeds”.

The Elsoms portfolio now encompasses oats, barley, spring oats and spring malting barley. AHBD candidate varieties of spring oats and spring malting barley were showcased at Cereals this year and performed well in this year’s official trials. 

“Acorn spring barley demonstrated impressive malting potential combined with excellent disease resistance, whilst Chanson is a new null lox variety that provides growers with a real leap forward in terms of yield,” said Elsoms Seed Sales Specialist, George Goodwin. “Both oat varieties, Harmony and Yukon look promising and have attracted promising interest from merchants.”

The rapid growth of the energy crop sector over the last three years has driven one of the biggest changes in arable cropping since the expansion of the oilseed rape market in in the 1990’s. Elsoms energy crop team of Heather Oldfield and Jonathan Baxendale, in combination with Saaten Union’s Bio Energy Division led by Dr Joachim Moeser, have worked closely with energy companies, merchants, famers, advisors and contractors to help develop the most efficient way of producing crops for energy production. Whilst maize remains the foundation of most energy crop programmes, many farmers are realising the considerable benefits that can be achieved by a sophisticated and integrated rotation that includes hybrid rye, triticale, energy beet and catch and cover crops as well as maize.  

Heather Oldfield, Energy and Forage Crops Manager, Elsoms, commented “Our hybrid rye varieties such as SU Performer and SU Drive continue to take a major share of this growing market and we have developed an exciting maize portfolio to combine with our established triticale varieties to provide farmers with an extensive range of energy crop options.”

Adrian Hayley, Head of the Agricultural Division, Elsoms, added “We have been delighted by the support we have received from across the agricultural sector over the last few years as our arable business has grown and we are proud that we can offer UK farmers a real alternative choice of a wide range of competitive varieties,”.

To find out more about the Elsoms rapidly expanding range of agricultural seed and the success of our varieties in 2016 trials, please visit our enthusiastic crop management teams on stand 138 at CropTec 2016 on 29–30 November at the East of England Showground, Peterborough. 

UK farmers face an increasingly uncertain and volatile global market place, exacerbated by the country’s decision to leave the EU. Factors outside their control, such as commodity prices, weather and politics, are set to have even more influence on the bottom line.

Reducing unit production costs and increasing productivity through technical excellence is becoming even more relevant to remain competitive. With that in mind, this year’s CropTec seminars highlight key areas farmers can influence that directly affect business performance, says CropTec development director Stephen Howe.

“The programme focuses on four areas affecting profitability that are well within growers’ control – crop establishment, crop nutrition, crop protection and crop breeding.

“These seminars, in conjunction with CropTec’s specialist hubs and the wide array of technical exhibits from leading suppliers, provides the ideal catalyst for more detailed discussion to help visitors increase yield, improve efficiency and reduce the all-important unit costs of production.”