Blog post by Indigro independent agronomists
Moving towards regenerative agriculture demands a holistic approach to all decisions on farm. A crucial aspect is making your crop and variety choice work to your advantage. Varietal choice in a regenerative system should be based on high quality traits that provide resilience and decrease dependence on artificial inputs. Below we have outlined a small (and by no means exclusive) selection of varieties and traits for consideration.
Varieties for direct drilling
Minimising soil disturbance during crop establishment is a key pillar of regenerative agriculture, however, anyone with experience of direct drilling will know that this produces a whole new set of conditions for crops to adapt to, particularly during the ‘transitional’ years. It is important to select vigorous varieties for good autumn establishment and spring growth. Hybrid winter barley varieties, such as SY Thunderbolt and SY Kingsbarn, are typically quick to establish, grow away rapidly in the spring and provide useful suppression of grassweeds. KWS trials have shown that Extase has performed particularly well in a direct drilled scenario, and KWS Zyatt and Skyfall have produced pleasing results from past experiences with our agronomists.
Varieties for reducing insecticides
Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV), which is transmitted by the bird cherry-oat aphid and grain aphid, has historically been managed using seed treatments and foliar applied insecticides. Whilst there are a range of cultural control measures to reduce this disease, such as delayed sowing of winter cereals, an effective solution is to grow a resistant winter wheat variety, such as the hard group 4 wheat RGT Wolverine. BYDV tolerant winter barley varieties include KWS Amistar, KWS Feeris and DSV Sensation. A cost/benefit assessment of traits will need to be made, as for some varieties, foliar disease resistance can be compromised for BYDV protection, and some plant breeders recommend the application of one foliar applied insecticide to early sown crops, to protect the longevity of the trait. For oilseed rape, high quality traits coupled with early drilling has proven to be effective at managing pest issues. Rapid spring vigour and earliness of flowering, in varieties such as DK Extremus and Expedient, allows crops to escape pollen beetle damage and helps combat the burden of cabbage stem flea beetle larvae. In addition, turnip yellow virus resistance, in varieties such as LG Aspire and DSV Temptation, will provide protection against the aphid-vectored virus.
Varieties for reducing fungicides
If you are looking to decrease fungicide use, selecting a variety with a high untreated yield and quality characteristics is the first place to start. The group 2 winter wheat variety KWS Extase, which boasts an untreated yield of 93% on the current recommended list, is performing particularly well in-field and looks to have resilient disease resistance, particularly against septoria tritici. DSV Theodore, which is a hard group 4 variety, also has excellent all-round disease resistance, requiring minimal agrochemical inputs. Many farms are trialling wheat blends, using four or more varieties of similar maturity and grain quality, to act as an insurance, as some varieties will suit the conditions of the growing season better than others. Trials carried out at Aarhus University in Denmark have shown reductions in septoria tritici severity and yield improvements
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