Insiders View – Looking to lead the spring options

 

A new higher-yielding brown spring linseed is now available with a guaranteed market. CPM asks whether Empress has the potential to play a commanding role.

Empress has the best combination of yield and earliness.

By Tom Allen-Stevens

For many growers, the ideal spring crop for drilling in 2019 would help keep a lid on blackgrass, provide a good entry for wheat, and have a guaranteed market that’s not going to get upset by whatever happens (or doesn’t happen) on 29 March.

Make way for Empress, a new brown linseed variety now available on a buy-back contract from Premium Crops. It’s an early maturing variety that came onto the AHDB Descriptive List (DL) in 2017, and sits in amongst the list leaders, yielding significantly higher than other varieties the company has on contract. Lack of seed has limited the opportunity to grow it until now, but Premium Crops has plenty available for 2019 plantings and is actively seeking growers.

Before even considering the variety, however, the performance of linseed as a crop in 2018 will weigh heavy on many growers’ minds, recognises Premium Crops managing director Andrew Probert. “We’ve been supplying specialist crops to the industry since 1987, and I’ve never known a growing season as bad for spring crops as the one we’ve just had,” he notes.

“Growers on good land who established the crop well still achieved yields in the region of 3t/ha. But on sandy soils, and especially where crops were muddled in, some struggled to get even 1t/ha.”

In a more normal year, growers across the board should see more respectable yields, he assures. “Empress in particular offers a yield that’s 9% higher than Marquise and Altess, our current brown linseed mainstays. It’s also an Easycut variety, but importantly it’s bred by Linea, based in France, and fulfils the requirement for Valorex, who buy the crop.”

Valorex, also based in France, is one of the original members of the Bleu-Blanc-Coeur (BBC) Association – an organisation founded on the principle that ‘quality materials produce quality food’. The specific quality of linseed is that it’s high in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).

“ALA is one of the building blocks of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, that are associated with health benefits,” explains Andrew. “Humans are not very good at converting ALA to the omega-3 acids that our body requires (EPA and DHA), but animals are better. Including a certain amount of cooked and extruded linseed in a livestock ration boosts the omega-3 content of animal products, such as milk, cheese, eggs and meat.”

Around 7% of all pork produced in France and up to 2% of all eggs are now sold under the BBC brand, worth €2bn (£1.8bn) annually. Endorsed by the French ministry of agriculture and the United Nations, the BBC concept is supported by a number of scientific studies, he adds, including five clinical studies in human nutrition.

“The point is that BBC is a highly valuable brand, and Valorex wants fully traceable, high-ALA European-grown linseed – the crop grows best in a maritime climate, which in France is the coastal strip bordering the English Channel. This region is renowned for growing flax for the linen industry, however. As linseed and flax are the same species, the French do not grow linseed due the risk of fusarium in the crop. So Valorex gets 20,000t of the high-ALA linseed it needs from the UK.

“Their demand is rising, so we’re looking to increase the contracted area for 2019, and offering a range of marketing options to suit the grower including fixed prices and linkage to rapeseed,” says Andrew.

Contract production means the price is not as volatile as it could potentially be on the open market, which adds certainty, he says. In a year of strong rapeseed prices, growers can opt for a ‘premium over OSR’ on a portion of their crop rather than 100% fixed price if they are feeling bullish.

And what does the future hold for growing linseed in the UK, in the light of Brexit? “It’s a market that’s largely unaffected as there are no tariffs on linseed,” he adds.

Empress is well adapted to the linseed uses for livestock feeding with the BBC food label because of its high content in oil and ALA, says managing director and breeder at Linea Reynald Tavernier.

“Since its registration in the UK in 2016, Empress has achieved a mean oil content of 40.6% and 58.5% in ALA content of the oil. BBC ask for specifications for farmers in the choice of varieties and technical processes used by farmers, in an effort to have very high quality linseed. The combination of oil and ALA content makes Empress ideal for this market.”

It’s also one of the higher-yielding varieties on the DL, he points out, at 105% of controls. Between 2013, when it first came into UK trials, and 2017, its yield has varied from 100-109%. “This makes it a very steady variety, although with linseed, you should never look at yield in isolation,” he says.

“Empress has the best combination of yield and earliness. It’s a medium-late type for flowering and medium-early for ripeness. The variety has mid-short straw and a good tolerance to lodging (mid-tolerant type) that also contributes to its easy growth and easy harvest.”

Like Altess and Marquise, also bred by Linea, Empress is an Easycut variety. This tackles one of the key reservations growers have over linseed. Although the crop is grown without problems by many regular growers, it’s perceived by others as being late and/or difficult to harvest. That’s true of the types grown for flax which are selected to increase the fibre content of the stem, that can make it difficult to cut.

EasyCut varieties, however, are specifically bred with low levels of fibre in the stem – typically 25% less than other varieties on the DL – and short, stiff straw, resulting in them being easier to harvest, says Reynald. They’re also early maturing, so come to harvest before other varieties.

Altess was the first EasyCut linseed variety and has since been joined by Duchess, Marquise and now Empress. Premium Crops agronomist Hannah Foxall says they have proved to be easy and straightforward to harvest.

“We now have experience of tens of thousands of ha of EasyCut linseed varieties grown in the UK and the feedback from growers confirms these claims. Managed correctly, EasyCut varieties harvest straight after wheat.”

Empress is more forward than other varieties and shorter, she confirms. “Our advice is to desiccate when stems are still green and cut at the first opportunity. Experience shows that if you take the combine in and it’s not cutting well, just leave it and come back – when the crop’s ready it cuts well. Moisture is more important than calendar date.”

The same can be said for the start of the cropping cycle. “The rule of thumb when drilling spring linseed is to do so after barley but before maize, in March or April. But be guided by field conditions – you want a soil temperature of 7°C or higher, with mild weather forecast,” advises Hannah.

“Like most small-seeded crops, linseed requires a firm, fine seedbed. To conserve moisture, min-till and direct drilling techniques can be used and it should be sown at a depth of around 2-3cm. That said, Empress is a relatively large seed, so should get up and away better – it has a bit more oomph.”

Premium Crops recommends a high seed rate, the aim being to establish 600 plants/m², with an advised seeding rate of 800/m² – around 200 seeds/m² higher than traditional practice. The flax flea beetle is the crop’s number one pest, and it’s vulnerable from emergence to 5cm tall. This causes similar damage to cabbage stem flea beetle in oilseed rape, although not as much of a problem.

“Good weed control is important, and fortunately there are now plenty of options with spring linseed, thanks to a number of Extensions of Authorisation for minor Use (EAMUs) for the crop, following trials work we carry out. This can also help with blackgrass control in the wider rotation,” notes Hannah.

Linseed straw can be disposed of either by chopping or by burning in the swath, being exempt from the burning ban, unlike cereals. “In some years it can prove difficult to chop, depending on the season and condition of the straw chopper. Fibrous and ‘fleecy’ residue can disrupt subsequent drilling.

“If burning, the most common method is to either push the straw into heaps, or bale in round bales and set alight in situ. Linseed straw burns very hot and clean with very little ash residue, so it’s ideal for on-farm straw burners,” she adds.

Grown well, Hannah views linseed as a true break crop. “It leaves the land in very good condition with a light and friable soil structure ready for the following crop. With Empress, the higher yield and guaranteed market on offer should make it a truly sustainable spring option.”

UK trials aim to develop a sustainable system

For the past 17 years, Premium Crops has carried out its own trials with linseed to develop the agronomy and establish suitable varieties for UK growers, points out Andrew Probert.

“With 50-60% of the UK’s linseed crop grown on contract for us, we have a vested interest in ensuring it’s as profitable and sustainable for farmers as possible, so it’s very much in our interest to invest in work that improves prospects for growers.”

A good example is the seed rate work, he says. “The industry has tended to trim seed rates in many crops. We now have three years’ data showing a consistent and substantial difference from stepping up to 800 seeds/m² from 600 seeds/m², although 1000 seeds/m² shows no improvement. We also have proof it’s raised yields on farm by an average 10%, delivering a margin over input of £65/ha.”

For Hannah Foxall, the work on herbicides screening is crucial. “As we see actives lose their approval, it’s important we maintain the options on linseed. There is a relatively large range of herbicides suitable for the crop, especially for blackgrass.”

The work has successfully resulted in an EAMU now available for Avadex (triallate), on both spring and winter crops, for example. “We’re looking to get similar approval for Avadex Factor, the liquid formulation, for those growers without access to a granule applicator.”

The loss of diquat will prove a challenge, she says – the desiccant will be removed from sale after the 2019 season, with a further 12-month use-up period. “We’ve had some good results from carfentrazone, and are now looking to get an EAMU. This may prove difficult, though, as linseed is a different crop type to potatoes in which it currently has approval.”

Healthy home-bakers LoveLinseed?

The next Signature Bake on the hit Channel

4 TV show Great British Bake Off could get a whole lot healthier if contestants turn to the enriched omega-3 products that will soon be available through a new website, says Nigel Padbury of Premium Crops.

The company is launching LoveLinseed (www.LoveLinseed.co.uk), that will give consumers in the UK the ability to buy Linette, a blend of wheat flour and specially prepared linseed flour currently only available to consumers in France.

“With its enhanced Omega-3 content, Linette can be used in recipes at home to replace or supplement wheat flour in cakes, bread, biscuits, desserts and a host of other uses,” says Nigel.

For the past two years, around 15% of the entire UK linseed crop has been sown with the high omega-3 linseed variety, VT50 (also known as NuLin50). “Grown on buy-back contracts with Premium Crops, this variety is processed by Valorex, who manufacture the Linette range of products. Like its animal feed products, the range is endorsed by the Bleu-Blanc-Coeur (BBC) Association.”

LoveLinseed will be launched in the UK in early December offering Linette Classique, the original blend of wheat and linseed flour, for UK consumers to buy and try at home. “The website also tells the story of the BBC concept, the unique processes Valorex has developed to create the Linette product and will have a number of exciting recipes using the flour,” says Nigel.

“In time, we intend to extend the range with more Linette products. These would include Linette Sarrasin, a blend of linseed flour with Buckwheat and Linette Son d’Avoine, a blend of linseed flour with oat bran.

Empress at a glance