NL scores add weight to candidate prospects

There’s a new contender for the Group 4 winter wheat market that looks set to shake up the already-strong choice available. New information on RGT Gravity is now available, and breeder RAGT is advising growers to book early.

By Tom Allen-Stevens

If pre-launch chatter is anything to go by, expect big things of RGT Gravity, a new high-yielding feed wheat from RAGT up for recommendation this autumn.

 

The variety has topped the yield tables in NL1 and NL2 trials and is the highest yielding candidate variety on the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Recommended List for winter wheat.

 

Although it’s now completed National List testing, official figures won’t be published until May, says RAGT managing director Simon Howell.

“The official results confirm RGT Gravity’s leading yield performance in our own trials over the past five years, highlighting its consistency” he says. “It also offers a solid agronomy package.”

 

Full details, based on NL scores as well as RAGT trials, are now available on the breeder’s website. There’s also an RAGT Product Tool Kit on all its varieties available to download in iBook format  – see below for more.

 

RAGT has taken the decision to fast-track seed production this season, giving commercial growers as well as seed growers access to the variety this autumn.

 

Early booking is recommended, says Simon Howell, who reports strong interest from the seed trade and positive feedback from agronomists and growers.

 

“We’ve been aiming to create a variety that beats KWS Santiago. RGT Gravity has achieved that in terms of yield.”

 

Pedigree in its parents

The variety has Scout, Oakley and Santiago as parents to combine grain quality and high yielding genetic potential, notes Célia Bequain, wheat breeder at RAGT.

 

“RGT Gravity stands out for its exceptional and consistent yield – it’s very exciting,” she says.

National List data shows RGT Gravity yield values of 107.3% for treated plots and 84% for untreated. Santiago achieved 103% and 69% respectively in the 2017/18 RL.

 

“Yield is the key to winning the race and it’s already won that. Growers need to secure it while they can,” says Openfield’s head of seeds Lee Bennett.

 

The variety is a hard feed wheat with good lodging and disease resistances, particularly against yellow rust. It’s also resistant to orange wheat blossom midge.

 

On grain quality, provisional data show 12.5% protein content and a Hagberg value of 200 plus a specific weight of 76.1kg/hl.

 

Gleadell seed manager Chris Guest also has the variety in his sights. “Yield is really important but RGT Gravity also has good grain quality. It’s suited to people who like consistency and it’s the answer to a lot of grower requirements.”

 

There’s an in-depth view of RGT Gravity in Insiders View in CPM’s Feb issue, click here to read the article

 

Full details on all RAGT varieties are now available to download through its website in iBook format, which includes testimonials.

Before you click the link to download, bear in mind it’s a large file, so you’ll need a good connection. Also, it’s designed to be used on an iPad or large iPhone, and while there are reader apps, such as ePub Reader, for Android and PC, you may well find limited functionality.

 

If you have the Apple tech, however, it’s quite a swish way to browse the RAGT variety portfolio. And if not, don’t worry – the RAGT website works well on smartphone and PC browsers and presents all the data on the varieties.