The market for wheat seed in Scotland may be small in European terms but it is still of interest to breeding companies such as French owned RAGT.
“We realise that Scottish farmers’ needs are different to elsewhere in the UK,” said Simon Howell, managing director of the UK division of the French-owned business.
“Varieties suited to the north, including Northumberland, must have a big bold grain and a high specific weight. If the specific weight starts with a low potential and then it is hit with a poor harvest, it can cause issues,” he said.
Furthermore the majority of Scottish wheats need to be suitable for the distilling market. with high spirit level per tonne a necessary trait.
Mr Howell continued: “The bulk of the UK wheat breeding programme is centred on Cambridge and 70% of the crop is grown within a 100 mile radius of Cambridge.
“Given that this intensive wheat area is closer to Paris than Edinburgh, this means that selection criteria are very different.
“As an example, RAGT’s new variety Skyfall, a Group 1 hard wheat, has proved to be a real success and has led to the biggest multiplication programme for a new variety since Claire in 1999. Some 11,000 tonnes of seed have been sold for commercial use this autumn alone.”
There are, however, RAGT varieties emerging that could play a role in Scotland. RGT Conversion is on the 2015 recommended list and, although the yield, rated at 102, is lower than market leader Leeds on 107, it has grain quality which the breeders reckon sets it apart.
Alcohol yield is very high and above the 410-415 litres per tonne the industry standard.
Conversion is a Group Three wheat with biscuit-making potential and interestingly is showing potential for replacing Claire as the favoured variety for producing the wheat base for Kit Kat wafers.
Another RAGT wheat variety,Marlborough, is a candidate for recommended list trials next year and, as well as being a good alcohol producer, it has a higher yield potential.
The company has no new variety in the stocks for the much-prized Scottish distilling barley market but breeder Cathy Hooper sees potential in Planet as a feed variety for Scotland.
It has been bred as a brewing variety that will appeal in England but in Scotland it has been producing better yields than market leading feed variety Wagon.
RAGT’s new hybrid oilseed rape, Alizze, has emerged from the breeding programme in the Paris basin but has proved promising for use in the north and west of the UK.
It has good agronomic characteristics across the board including a high resistance to light leaf spot, the scourge of growers in northern climes.