The introduction of the Beowulf variety to the Limagrain wheat portfolio continues a shift in focus from the company. Phillip Tailby, wheat breeder for Limagrain, noted that the company had focused on soft wheat varieties for two decades, offering biscuit and feed wheats that provided a premium to growers.
“When the market started to shift towards hard wheats, it took several seasons for us to adjust our breeding programme so that we could offer the traits that customers required.”
To highlight how much the market has moved, he noted that in 2005 hard wheats made up around 11% of the market. Now, these varieties make up more than half of the UK winter wheat and are expected to feature heavily again in cropping plans for 2025.
Limagrain’s LG Evolution hard feed variety made the 2014/15 Recommended List (RL), and by using marker-assisted and genomic selection, the company has managed to shorten development time, reportedly driving faster varietal improvements and delivering desirable traits.
This was borne out with the introduction of LG Typhoon, which joined the RL in 2022 boasting ratings of 9 for yellow rust resistance and 7.2 for septoria, on top of orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM) resistance. “While it may not be as high yielding as other varieties that were launched around the same time, its traits, consistency across the country and the ability to drill earlier has made it very attractive,” says Ron Granger, arable technical manager.
He added that the early drilling could be particularly important this year as growers look to pre-empt the difficult sowing conditions, we saw last year.
Now, the company has introduced LG Beowulf. Starting from a Costello x Gleam parentage, it continues Limagrain’s efforts to stack traits within its hard wheat portfolio. It addresses the yield ceiling seen in Typhoon, consistently scoring over 106 regardless of the region in the UK and having an untreated yield of 91.
“It can fit into a wide range of sowing regimes as well,” continues Phillip. “We have seen good results at 200, 300 and 400 seeds/sq m, and it keeps its 106 yield rating even as a second wheat.”
Its RL scoring shows good resistance to yellow rust (9) and septoria (6.7), and while it drops for brown rust (5), Phillip noted that the pressure from this was less of a concern for many growers. It also retains the stiff straw, tillering performance, OWBM resistance and grain quality seen in previous Limagrain varieties.
The 2024 candidate LG Rebellion looks to take these traits further, with the highest yield potential of any Limagrain hard wheat variety. Its KWS Extase parentage reportedly gives it high untreated yields and strong disease resistance, with the added benefit of pch1 eyespot resistance.
The strong grain quality makes it a possible choice for exports – unusual for Group 4 hard wheats – and it is earlier to maturity than Extase according to the company.
“It ticks many different boxes and gives growers the option of going for something that’s a bit different to other hard feed wheats on the market,” concludes Ron.
For more information go to www.lgseeds.co.uk