Now that harvest is upon us, arable farmers’ thoughts have been turning to what to plant in the autumn. The crucial question, especially in these uncertain times of low commodity prices, is what crop varieties will best utilise their resources to achieve the maximum return?

Crop choices

Over the years, crops have, like music and fashion, gone through a number of trends, but with crops there’s always a practical reason for the change. For example, farmers can now choose varieties which have been bred to be more resistant to certain pests and diseases or are better suited to a more novel purpose such as biofuel production. Then there are the crops that can achieve a premium price or higher yields or be drilled and harvested early or late to better fit in with crop rotations.

With so many varieties on the market, just how does a farmer make a choice?

The Recommended List

The Recommended List is a user guide or chart of top crop performers which has been produced in one way or another for more than 80 years. Now managed by AHDB (Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board) Cereals & Oilseeds, the Recommended List is a one-stop shop which aims to assist growers by giving them practical information. Farmers will ultimately know their land, what suits it and what they want to achieve. The Recommended List helps them to make informed choices.

Making the grade

To achieve Recommended List status, a variety will go through independent trials around the UK because a grower needs to know how it has performed locally rather than how it does at the other end of the country. To make it onto the list, a variety has to be considered of economic benefit to the industry as a whole and it must have produced results deemed suitable by a committee of independent experts. In recent years, the growing prevalence of yellow and brown rust in wheat has pushed more rust-resistant varieties to the fore. The current Recommended List leader for winter wheat is the variety Skyfall which not only produces good yields but has a high resistance to brown rust, fusarium and orange wheat blossom midge.

However, such is the individual nature of crop selection, and the numerous factors which go into it, that even neighbouring farmers may choose to grow very different varieties.

Changing tastes

As with all trends, tastes and circumstances change and a variety might be cast aside for the ‘next big thing’ in crop production. It could be that a crop's yields have decreased compared with others, or perhaps it has proved more susceptible to disease and is no longer loved by farmers or processors. In such cases, a variety will then be removed from the list.

Breeders are always looking to improve and bring bigger and better crop varieties to market and the old inevitably makes way for the next generation. The Recommended List in 2016 is vastly different from the Recommended List of 10 years ago, and I suspect by 2026 will be completely transformed again.

Further information

Contact Savills Rural Services