Spring Seed for 2021.

With the increased demand for spring seed and the difficulties, sourcing seed from Great Britain following Brexit, it is vitally important that growers order seed in good time ensuring availability and variety choice.

Through the production of local Northern Ireland seed and forward planning, Fane Valley have both the volume and choice of cereal varieties to supply the requirements of growers as spring approaches.

Spring cereals are very versatile with uses including, combinable grain, crimping, whole cropping or use as a nurse crop for grass reseeds. Regardless of the end use, grain and straw yield is of foremost, importance, followed by disease and lodging resistance.

Looking first at barley, the varieties suit different situations and requirements. From Planet with its strong combination of yield and disease traits, to the high yielding, early maturing Evelina, with its promise of a 7 – 10 day earlier harvest. For those wanting to try a new variety SY Splendor is the highest yielding variety in the west region with good standing power and a good brackling score.

Moving to spring wheat and breeder KWS continues to dominate the market. On offer are two of the best varieties available on the recommended list, namely Cochise and Chilham offering high yield and strong disease characteristics against the major spring wheat diseases such as mildew and septoria. Both varieties are suitable for either grain or whole-cropping markets.

Looking at oats, we have Elyann and Husky, both suitable for the milling market at Whites with high kernel content and high specific weights offering an excellent yield and disease combinations.

With the price of soya and the recent announcement of the Protein Payment Scheme, proteins such as beans, peas and lupins are of interest to growers once again. Whilst relatively straight forward to grow seed is limited, so please book your seed early to avoid disappointment.

For growers looking specifically at the whole crop market, spring triticale and spring rye, both offer high whole crop yields, with lower input costs. Spring rye is particularly fast growing and offers a short growing period suiting perhaps a situation where sowing is delayed or following early grazing in the spring.

At Fane Valley, we are proud to supply Morton’s quality seed and work closely with farmers to ensure the availability of seed in a timely manner, with seed treatments tailored to suit the individual requirements of growers, and to get your crop of to the best start possible.

In order to secure your seed and for further information please contact the Agronomy and Forage team on 02892610485.