Typhoon goes down a storm in Staffordshire

• Wheat variety performs well late-drilled

• Withstood extremely wet winter weather

• Looked clean throughout entire season

Later drilled winter wheat has performed well for third generation Staffordshire farmer Rob Atkin – despite a stern test during a challenging 2023/34 season.

Mr Atkin farms 386ha of combinable crops at Field Farm, Field, near Uttoxeter. He grows feed wheat, milling oats, feed and malting barley, beans and oilseed rape, as well as 101ha of grassland that is home to 250 head of Belgium Blue cattle.

Last year was his first time growing LG Typhoon, with a 6ha field sown to assess the variety’s performance. It seemed to fit the bill and suit our heavy land, as well as being a good second wheat performer, so we decided to give it a try.”

“We saw LG Typhoon in Agrii trials in 2022 and were really impressed with how it looked; it was clean, stood well, and has relatively high yield potential. We also try to pick varieties that are competitive in the spring against bromes and blackgrass.”

Wet conditions

Mr Atkin usually starts drilling in the second week of September and is all done within a month. But last autumn’s wet conditions meant the field was drilled after forage maize much later than planned on 17 October.

“We got the maize off, but then had 65 mm (2.5”) of rain, which meant we couldn’t get back on the land for a while, and had to plough and combination drill instead of our usual minimal tillage. It was right at the end of our usual dtilling window.”

Despite the late start, which was followed by the exceptionally wet winter, Mr Atkin says the crop established well and was less affected by the tough conditions than other winter wheat varieties grown on the farm.

“It was a little slow to get going, probably due to the cold, wet soils, but once it did, it withstood the wet conditions really well,” he explains.

“Disease-wise, it has also been impressive; it was one of the cleanest varieties on the farm last season, despite some others breaking down to Septoria later in the season.”

Crops stay clean

That cleanliness is even more impressive given the generally high disease pressure last year, and the fact that Mr Atkin employs a reduced two-spray fungicide regime on most wheats, which does not follow conventional timings.

“We want to utilise varietal resistance and extend the cover fungicides provide, so essentially both sprays went on mid-way through the conventional timings.”

The first was spray was applied at the equivalent of T1.5, while the second was at T2.5. “While we are reducing the number of sprays, we do use robust chemistry at those timings.

The first treatment was 0.8 L/ha Cleancrop Vulture (prothioconazole + tebuconazole) plus 1 L/ha Phoenix (folpet), with additional micronutrients and trace elements. This was followed four weeks later by 1.3 L/ha Boogie Xpro (bixafen, prothioconazole + spiroxamine), again with trace elements.

“The odd field did need an additional T3 last season, but we stuck with the two-spray approach on the LG Typhoon, and it looked really clean all the way through.”

This resilience meant LG Typhoon was one of the best performing varieties on the farm this harvest, although Mr Atkin says all winter wheat yields were around 2.5 t/ha (1 t/acre) below normal, due to the wet conditions from autumn to spring.

Increasing the area

Mr Atkin is keen to give LG Typhoon another go this season, and is increasing the area of the variety to 20 ha, which he hopes to sow by the end of September. “One field will be a first wheat after oilseed rape, but we’ll also try the variety in a second wheat position to see how it performs there.”

He also hopes to be able to avoid the need for the plough this autumn, and get back to a minimal tillage system, based around a shallow disc-based cultivation after harvest, to work the top 10-20 mm of soil, which is allowed to green-up, before spraying off with glyphosate and then drilling with the farm’s Amazone Cayena tine drill.

Other varieties going in the ground this autumn include Oxford, Bamford, Crusoe, Fitzroy and a 5ha trial area of LG Beowulf, which joined the AHDB Recommended List this year.

“A lot of people have been raving about LG Beowulf and it looks good in trials, so I’m keen to give it a try on our farm. We’re growing it as a first wheat after maize or oilseed rape this season, and if it performs, we’ll look to multiply up the area next year with home-saved seed.”

Mr Atkin concludes: “It has been really hard to evaluate varieties this season given the weather, but from what we’ve seen, LG Typhoon has done well and seemed to cope better with the conditions, so we’re keen to see how it, and other varieties, perform in – hopefully – a more normal season.”

Flexibility

Limagrain Field Seeds UK’s Ron Granger says LG Typhoon has clearly shown its great flexibility for drilling date in the 2024 season.

“Although now established as a true early drilling wheat, the variety should not be ‘pigeon-holed’ into this one category.

“The variety has demonstrated a consistency of yield performance from its agronomic characteristics, to perform in both the standard and later drilling dates, showing a robustness from its plant development, and great disease resistance profile.

“For growers seeking security for on-farm performance in challenging years of high disease pressure, then LG Typhoon is a variety worthy of consideration.”

Atkin Farms, Uttoxeter, Staffs

380 ha (930-acre), mixed arable and grassland family farm

Predominantly heavy copper marl soils

Cropping includes winter wheat, milling oats, feed and malting barley, winter beans, forage maize, oilseed rape and cover crops (trialled ahead of maize)

101 ha of grassland, home to 300-350 Belgium Blue cattle

Predominantly min-till since 2003, plus some direct drilling where possible

Strong focus on protecting water quality (working with South Staffs Water)

Annual rainfall usually 890-900 mm – 1,200 mm in 2023