UK: Farmers should take a fresh look at planting barley this autumn on better barley prices now being offered
Cereal farmers looking to spread harvest workloads away from the traditional wheat bottleneck in future should take a fresh look at planting barley this autumn, a leading cereal specialist is suggesting, Farming UK posted on August 26th.
That is especially so given the better grain prices now being offered for barley, coupled with the leap in outputs that modern varieties can offer, both of which have helped make the crop more financially attractive, he adds.
According to Robert Hiles, head of UK cereals for Syngenta Seeds, with feed barley prices reaching Ј118 per tonne in some areas, and top-yielding hybrid feed barley having yielded up to 11.5 t/ha in some trial plots and farm situations, that could be worth over Ј1,300 per hectare in income
Additionally, winter barley can be ready to harvest a month earlier than wheat, he says. So as well as offering a competitive income, a high-yielding and early-maturing hybrid could spread harvesting pressures away from the traditional winter wheat period, he points out.
"Tough grain prices a couple of years ago might have seen winter barley fall out of favour on some farms, as growers swung more into wheat. However, since then, grain prices have pretty much doubled and we've seen a number of changes on-farm where barley's early maturity could help.
"Developments such as the need to spread workloads in order to manage more land with fewer staff, coupled with increasing appeal in growing oilseed rape, following its biofuel interest, mean winter barley's early harvest can play a valuable role in aiding the manageability of rotations.
"On top of that, newer hybrid varieties have opened up substantial yield gains over some of the older two-row or dual-purpose varieties.
"Where growers turned away from winter barley a few years ago, my concern is they could be missing out on some of these attributes unless they've reappraised it recently. My advice would be to re-assess winter barley's potential in your rotation," he adds.
Looking at winter barley in more detail, Mr Hiles says as well as offering high yield, the latest generation of winter barley hybrids, Boost and Bronx, also offer better specific weight and improved disease resistance over those which growers could access from a hybrid a few years ago – including resistance to Barley Yellow Mosaic Virus.
Good specific weight can be especially important for maximising income, by minimising grain price deductions, he stresses. Similarly, so too is good straw output, now that barley straw is fetching as much as Ј50 per tonne in some areas, he says.
"All hybrids are noted for good straw length. Also, compared with a two-row barley variety, the treated yield gap between a dual-purpose or feed variety and a top-yielding hybrid, such as Bronx, could be over 1 t/ha.
"If you can regularly achieve a malting premium from a two-row variety that difference may not be an issue. But if you're a grower for whom malting quality is more elusive, that one tonne difference means you could be effectively missing out on over Ј100 / ha.
"In many ways, hybrids can be a good substitute for growing feed wheat. They have produced similar yields, but with potentially lower growing costs. Also, their early maturity can provide an early income opportunity and potentially lower drying costs.
"These are in addition to spreading harvest workloads – which is especially useful on farms where the combine harvester capacity for wheat harvest is already full."
29 August, 2007
