IT'S BEEN hailed as achieving the ‘holy grail’ of wheat growing and now the best farmers in the Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) have been given their just rewards.

This wheat quality award proves it is possible to produce high yields and high quality with the right approach to crop agronomy. Protein dilution at high yields has long been the nemesis for many growers of quality wheats, but not the Hutchinsons-sponsored growers that scooped the top two places in the YEN awards announced at the recent AHDB milling wheat conference.

Fenland farmer, Sam Markillie, of Trinity Hall, near Wisbech, won 'gold' with his crop of Gallant that yielded 12.54 tonnes/ha and 14% protein, while 'silver' went to Will Machin, from New Farmweald, in Oxfordshire, for his 12 tonnes/ha crop of Skyfall, at 14.5% protein.

The winners were selected from 24 YEN entrants who included Group 1 wheat varieties in the competition, as judged by a team of judges.

“It’s an outstanding achievement. To get that sort of yield combined with high protein is the holy grail of wheat growing,” said Dr Bob Bulmer, of Hutchinsons. “Both applied modest amounts of bagged nitrogen considering the yields and quality achieved, so a lot of the success is down to soil management.

“Fertile soil is part of this, but so is producing soil structure and crop growth that allows nutrients to be accessed efficiently. There is also a ‘farmer factor’ whereby some farmers are able to achieve quality more reliably than others,” he added.

Regular soil analysis, plus fertiliser applications tailored closely to crop requirements characterise the winning approaches, were key features of Mr Markillie's strategy and he is also keen to try different nitrogen strategies to manage protein dilution.

This included splitting nitrogen use – his totalled 276kg/ha – into six applications throughout the season, from early spring to the beginning of June, comprising solid and liquid forms to spread the risks associated with crop scorch and limited granular uptake in dry conditions.

“We want to time applications closer to when crops need nitrogen to produce yield and protein, rather than just putting more on early for canopy growth.”

The key to later applications was to use slow-release long chained urea polymers with the T2 and T3 fungicides. “It’s utilised much more efficiently by plants and is safe to use with no scorch risk when applied during the day,” said Mr Markillie.

Mr Machin’s approach was more conventional, with his YEN plot receiving manganese in the autumn, 30kg N/ha as ammonium sulphate, plus two equal doses of urea (80kg N/ha) in March and April. An additional 30kg N/ha was applied to the ear in June to maximise grain protein.

Maintaining healthy crops for as long as possible was another major driver of yield and quality for both growers. Their disease control strategies, which were based around four main fungicide sprays, plus an intermediary T1.5 spray applied due to concerns of an extended gap between T1 and T2 treatments.

[Summary table]

Sam Markillie Will Machin

2017 YEN trial area 14.1ha whole field (inc headlands) 2ha plot within larger area (no headlands)

Soil type Silty clay loam Mixed (clay to Cotswold brash)

Preceding crop Spring beans Oilseed rape

Variety Gallant Skyfall

Yield (t/ha) 12.54 11.97

Protein (inc milling loss) 14% 14.5%

Specific weight (kg/hl) 77.5 78.3