With Pioneer seeds and inoculants manager Andy Stainthorpe
With a number of farmers advocating the move towards later drilling for oilseed rape crops, there is still time to choose the variety that will work best on your farm.
Whether going later is a deliberate attempt to catch better conditions for oilseed rape to establish, or enforced by a stop-start cereal harvest holding up the drill, seed is certain to still be going into the ground well into the third week of September.
With a number of farmers advocating the move towards later drilling for oilseed rape crops, there is still time to choose the variety that will work best on your farm.
Whether going later is a deliberate attempt to catch better conditions for oilseed rape to establish, or enforced by a stop-start cereal harvest holding up the drill, seed is certain to still be going into the ground well into the third week of September.
That buys farmers a bit more time to look at the varieties available to them.
At Corteva we talk a lot about ‘proven products’ – that’s because our business is underpinned by loyalty towards the seed and crop protection solutions we are renowned for.
When it comes to seed choice, proven performance is exactly what Pioneer is bringing to oilseed rape growers with two new hybrids on the 2019/20 AHDB Recommended List.
PT275 has consistently produced high yields coupled with a strong agronomic profile and good oil content to secure an East-West region listing.
It has a published yield of 104% – the joint highest on the 2018/19 list.
It has good lodging resistance and stem stiffness and will deliver medium-late maturity. On the disease spectrum it scores 5 for stem canker and 6 for light leaf spot.
PT275’s top position for gross output in AHDB untreated trials last year is also worthy of special mention. Infection scores indicate possible yield resilience to disease whereas yields in untreated trials measure the actual yields achieved in a given infection situation – for many growers they may be a more reliable indicator of disease resistance.
Pioneer also has the only Clearfield variety on the Recommended List with PT279CL.
When we talk about a proven product, this is a case in point. PT279CL is the highest-yielding Clearfield variety ever to achieve either official registration in the UK or to be tested by the AHDB.
Whatever information you use in order to make your seed choice, there is no doubt the Recommended List is far and away the toughest set of trials to do well in, and it is independent.
With an 8 for both lodging resistance and stem stiffness ease of harvesting is covered. This strong agronomic package, combined with the Clearfield trait, makes it an obvious choice for many.