SeedTech Winter Wheat

Winter wheat is often the most profitable combinable crop grown on Irish tillage farms (source: Teagasc €PM 2016- 2018), but it is also the highest input crop. High yields (resulting from Ireland’s long, cool grain filling period) drive this profitability, but the risk: reward ratio needs to be managed by growers and agronomists.

Modern wheat varieties have exceptionally high yield potential in Ireland’s climate – the trick is to select a ‘stable’ of varieties to reduce your risk and maximise your reward.

Reliable disease resistance, straw strength and grain quality are key characteristics when producing high yielding wheat crops in Ireland, and Seedtech selects varieties based on these traits to find a robust variety for our challenging but favourable climate.

Varieties such as GRAHAM (6 for Septoria resistance, 7 for yellow rust resistance, 7 for straw strength, 6 for sprouting resistance) is a reliable ‘anchor’ variety for wheat growers.

We can then add varieties such as SY INSITOR (greater biomass than GRAHAM, so more suitable for lighter soils/ take-all situations), LG ASTRONOMER (exceptional distilling characteristics, 8 for straw strength, 8 for sprouting resistance, 8 for yellow rust resistance) and CHAMPION (highest yield in UK & Seedtech trials 2021, 8 for Septoria, aggressive autumn vigour).

Using the agronomic tables in this guide will help you choose the most suitable stable of varieties for your situation.