Conventional OSR varieties to shine at Cereals

Expect to see big changes in oilseed rape variety market share this year, as the new high performing conventional varieties find favour with growers visiting Cereals ‘10, predicts Senova.

Previous stalwarts such as Castille and Es Astrid have now been outclassed and are losing ground, says commercial director Jeremy Taylor, with the last two years bringing varieties forward with both higher gross output and better agronomic characteristics.

“There’s been real progress made with the conventional types, and there are now some exciting new names on the Recommended List. All of them offer good reasons to move on.”

Last year’s only addition to the list for the East and West region, Vision, has already claimed 7% of the market, he reports.

“Vision attracted a good following for its combination of very high gross output with good lodging and disease resistance scores. It showed many of the loyal Castille and Es Astrid growers that there was an alternative.”

Vision also outperformed many of the established hybrid varieties, prompting the switch back to conventional types and contributing to the demise of proven performers, Excalibur and Flash, he adds.

This year, it has been joined on the 2010/11 Recommended List by Fashion, with a gross output of 108. Although recommended for the east and west region, Fashion has also performed very well in the north, producing the highest yields from a conventional variety in that region.

“Fashion was one of only two varieties to be added from a line-up of 28 candidates, so it’s not surprising that it represents another step forward,” comments Mr Taylor. “It hasn’t been fast tracked onto the market or sold ahead of recommendation, so it’s the only ‘new’ proven variety for this year.
“We also believe it to be a true UK variety – the first for some time.”

The combination of its high yield potential and good oil content mean that it will contribute more than £50/ha extra to farm profits than established varieties such as Castille and Excalibur, he notes.

“The rapid progress that has been made with the breeding of conventional oilseed rape varieties is really good news for growers,” ends Mr Taylor. “They now have some very high performing varieties to choose from, and can be confident of getting good yields.”

Visitors to this year’s Cereals Event will be able to see both Fashion and Vision growing in plots on the Senova stand, as well as on the HGCA stand.