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Viscount

Current Position

Viscount is the highest yielding soft wheat on the HGCA RL 2009/10. With no shortage of home or export markets, the variety is midge resistant, has an excellent disease profile and short, stiff straw.

What we said in 2008		What’s happened in 2009
Should secure uks approval		Provisional uks secured
Excellent distilling potential		UK distilling approved
Biscuit making potential	?	To be reassessed in 2009
Highest yielding potential group 3 in trial		Highest yielding soft wheat on RL
Good grain characteristics
OWBM resistant
Short stiff straw
Potentially ¼ of 2009 winter wheat sowings

What does this mean if you have Viscount in the ground ?

• Viscount will account for approximately 3% of the wheat harvest in 2009
• This amounts to approximately 540,000 tonnes of the potential 18 million tonne 2009 crop
• Distilling in the north will require around 110,000 tonnes
• Export and feed will also take significant tonnages of soft wheat
• Only 50,000 tonnes was ever likely to go for biscuit and cakes and some still will
• NABIM will reassess Viscount’s biscuit qualities in 2009
• Viscount delivers the yield and agronomy packages promised

Markets available for Viscount

Wheat markets have become more complex – first and foremost wheat is soft or hard – within the soft wheat sector end-usage is:

UK seed trade have multiplied enough stock seed to achieve 18% market share, drilling Autumn 2009 –this equates to 3.25m tonnes of grain in 2010

At a potential of 25% of the biscuit market, this means that access for only 125,000 tonnes of end use of Viscount has to be reassessed.

Delivering yield and agronomy

• Highest yielding soft wheat on the HGCA RL 2009
• Excellent disease profile, high untreated yields
• Superb grain characteristics
• Ideal for export with the right W and P/L characteristics
• uks provisional approval
• OWBM resistance
• Short, stiff straw

Position for the North has not altered

Highest yielding soft in the North
Excellent distilling profile with high alcohol extraction

Data Source: NL2 (2007) and HGCA Recommended Lists 2009/10, winter wheat

Viscount –the facts

• Viscount has premium markets available to it
• Export, distilling, cake making, starch, bioethanol and feed markets are available
• NABIM will reassess Viscount’s biscuit qualities in 2009
• It could be re-graded as a Group 3 for 2009 and 2010 grain sales
• Viscount can deliver the yield and agronomy packages promised

Scout

Scout seeks gold in biscuit market

Newly approved Group 3 biscuit wheat Scout should take 3.5% of the winter wheat market this autumn, predicts its breeder Senova.

Demand for soft milling and export varieties is expected to help the Group 3 market double in size from its current low of 10% to around 20% by 2010, says the company's commercial director Jeremy Taylor.

"The Group 3 sector has suffered since 2005, due to the twin effects of low grain prices and the introduction of some very high yielding Group 4 varieties, including JB Diego," he explains. "The only new Group 3 wheat to come along in that time was Zebedee, which failed to make much impact."

That situation is now changing, he believes. "There's scope for this market to increase due to demand from the end users. They're looking for new varieties."

Scout was the only new Group 3 wheat to join the Recommended List this year, adds Mr Taylor. "And it comes at a time when the areas of others, such as Robigus, Claire and Consort are in decline."

With the grain quality and processing characteristics needed by the biscuit and export markets, Scout also has the agronomic characteristics sought by growers, he confirms.

"It has the highest specific weight of any of the soft wheats at 77.7kg/hl, a Hagberg of 218 and grain protein of 12%. In addition it has very stiff straw, good disease resistance and consistent performance across all soil types and rotational positions."

Included in its disease resistance ratings is a 9 for eyespot, making it the only variety on the Recommended List with such a score, he reports. "This gives it an advantage in the second wheat slot and should give growers more leeway with fungicide programmes."

Scout also has a score of 9 for both yellow and brown rust, as well as resistance to orange wheat blossom midge, he adds. "It has good scores for septoria, mildew and fusarium too. Unlike the current Group 3 choices, there are no disease weaknesses.

Its potential for early sowing is being investigated, reveals Mr Taylor. "There's been some work done which suggests it has slow primordial development, so it could fill the void left by Claire."

Emma Finn of British Cereal Exports confirms that Scout meets the requirements of the export market.

"We're very pleased to have it," she says. "Scout has provisional approval for the uks brand, which is always the case for the first two years of a variety's life, and we've had very good feedback from end users about it." There are currently twelve varieties on the Recommended List which meet the uks specification, she adds.

"It tends to be the Group 3s which have the desired quality. Interestingly, uks is in demand and it's very difficult for our customers to find an alternative to it. It's a good market for UK growers, which must be maintained."

This means growers with access to ports should consider quality wheat, she stresses. "The export market is open to them. And now we have a new variety that fits the bill."

Vision Oilseed Rape

The only conventional winter oilseed rape to join the 2009/10 Recommended List for the east and west region also comes from Senova.

At 106 for gross output, Vision is the highest yielding conventional type and some 3% ahead of the current market leader Castille, points out Mr Taylor. "

It's a big step forwards for conventional varieties and it introduces competition for the established hybrids. Vision has a higher yield and gross output than both Flash and Excalibur."

With better disease resistance to stem canker than Castille, Vision has the five factors needed in an oilseed rape variety, he believes. "Growers look for yield, oil content, standing power, disease resistance and earliness of flowering. Vision delivers on all of these."

Vision's extra yield and oil content is worth £38.73/ha more than that of Castille, he calculates. "Compared to Es Astrid, that figure is £63.80/ha higher and against NK Bravour it is £69.92/ha more."

Independent View

Independent variety consultant Richard Fenwick is enthusiastic about the arrival of both Scout and Vision.

He is very impressed with Scout's disease resistance ratings and points out that it has the joint highest untreated yield on the Recommended List.

"It means that growers won't lose a great deal if they don't get their spray timings spot on," he explains. "That will really appeal to Robigus growers."

Scout's market credentials are apparent, he adds. "Tests show that it has processing qualities similar to those of Claire and its grain quality has been consistently good."

Vision will be able to compete with the hybrids, he believes. "It offers better disease resistance, which is becoming very important. And with its gross output advantage of 3%, it will give the existing conventional varieties a run for their money."