United Kingdom
August 26, 2022
A seed crop of RGT Rashid has comfortably exceeded Michael Brown’s average wheat yield for this season.
Michael, who grows 215ha of wheats at T Brown & Son’s Bottom Farm, Covington in Cambridgeshire, started combining them on 20 July and finished 10 days later, his earlier finish ever.
Given that, and the overall dryness of the season, the farm average of 11.2t/ha was a much better result than expected.
“We’ve had more sunlight than normal and just enough rain at the right time, including 1.5in in early June over the Jubilee weekend. I think the results would have been very different if we hadn’t had that.”
His 25ha block of RGT Rashid coped well with the unusual season, averaging 11.8t/ha. It followed spring beans and was disced and pressed before being drilled in mid-October at around 325 seeds/sq m.
It came up well, and got away in the spring. It received a total of 220kg/ha of N and a three-spray fungicide programme, receiving robust rates of SDHI-based chemistry at T1 and T2 and an azoxystrobin/tebuconazole mix at T3.
“Overall we were very pleased with RGT Rashid,” says Michael. “It was easy to grow and its yield was on a par with our Group 4 varieties, so we’ll be growing it again this coming season.”
Secure choice for growers
Group 3 newcomer RGT Rashid has been recommended for the East region and is a secure choice for growers from Yorkshire through the Midlands to the south coast, says RAGT’s Tom Dummett.
RGT Rashid is an Icebreaker / Solo // Cougar cross. “The variety’s Septoria tritici score of 6.4 is highest of any soft wheat on the Recommended list, and it scores 8 for yellow rust,” says Tom. “It is also resistant to orange wheat blossom midge."
In the East RGT Rashid achieved just over 102.1% of controls, around two points clear of key competitors. It is well suited to the biscuit market with a 226 Hagberg and 76.4kg/hl specific weight.
“The variety can be sown early or late, can be grown as a first or second wheat, and works on light or heavy land,” says Tom. “It will suit a wide range of growers.”
* Go to www.ragtseeds.co.uk/news for more harvest news on RGT Rashid and other RAGT varieties.
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