United Kingdom
September 25, 2024
Winter barley sister varieties LG Capitol & LG Caravelle, continue to show a high consistency of yield performance in what is considered to have been one of the most testing seasons for winter cereals, ever!
Both varieties retain their positions as high yielding fully recommended 2-row feed varieties on the AHDB Recommended List harvest results mean 2024 (provisional results 28th August), with LG Capitol achieving 105.4% and LG Caravelle 105.2% of controls, for treated grain yield. Both varieties show a yield increase over KWS Tardis.
Ron Granger, Limagrain Field Seeds arable technical manager, shares his views on why both varieties have a place on farm this coming season.
LG Capitol has been the highest yielding 2-row feed variety for the last two seasons – just beating its sister LG Caravelle, by less than a decimal point!
He believes their excellent consistency of performance over some very difficult seasons is a headline note, with both varieties demonstrating this consistency of yield performance over not just seasons – but also across regions – as confirmed by AHDB RL harvest results for the mean of four years, from 2020–2024, which shows both varieties continue to sit at 106%.
He says the high yield potential of both varieties comes down to their increased tillering ability and this in turn also delivers valuable straw yields.
This excellent tillering ability of both LG Capitol and LG Caravelle, allows for as good black-grass competition as that offered by hybrid barley. In particular, LG Capitol’s performance on heavy soils which, generally favour black-grass populations, is the best of any of the winter barley varieties available, hybrids included.
On farm characteristics
Mr Granger notes, agronomically, there are such subtle differences between the two sister lines but both varieties can be treated the same with regards to agronomic inputs and timings, as shown by results from Limagrain in-house agronomy trials over the last 2 seasons.
“It’s worth noting, LG Caravelle and LG Capitol winter barleys can offer a higher yield potential with better agronomics and specific weights compared to a second or third winter wheat, along with a reduced fungicide spend and an earlier harvest opportunity, if oilseed rape is back on the agenda.
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