Viscount Growers Guide 2009

From early September sowings, Viscount can be expected to reach GS 31 perhaps two days before Robigus; to avoid any possibility of frost damage to the growing point, it is probably better to start sowing Viscount from mid-September onwards, although in the north or at altitude, the date could be brought forward by a few days with comparative safety.

Limited data shows Viscount to be one of the highest yielding varieties from a late November/early December sowing date, making it an ideal, easy to grow variety following sugar beet or potatoes.

Seed rate

Optimum seed rate will vary depending on sowing date, altitude, latitude and percentage establishment, the latter being affected by pest damage and seedbed conditions. Viscount is a medium tillering variety which has relatively large grains. Growers who prefer to order their seed on a “bags per acre” or “hectare” basis should take this into account. Under reasonable seedbed conditions, growers in the Eastern counties should aim to sow 220 to 250 seeds per square metre from mid September sowings, with the higher seed numbers being more appropriate for heavier soils or in fields where resistant blackgrass might be expected to be problematic. Each week that follows after this, a rule of thumb might be to add 30 – 40 seeds per square metre to the mid September figure.

Rotational position

As a first wheat, Viscount at 105% of control is only beaten by Oakley for yield (at 107%), and is similar to JB Diego. In this rotational slot, it is an obvious choice, with its excellent agronomic package and wide range of added value marketing possibilities. Trials data suggests that Viscount is perhaps less suited to a second wheat position than

some other varieties, although the yield drop is less than would be expected for Robigus.

Growers who find themselves with a Viscount second wheat slot should consider the use of Latitude (silthiofam) or Jockey/Galmano (fluquinconazole). Both these products can give useful, and more importantly, cost effective control of Take-all; the latter will also give some suppression of rusts and Septoria tritici through to early spring. Drilling during October and increasing the seed rate, allied to a higher rate of early applied nitrogen will also help get the best out of the variety when grown as a second wheat.

Regional yields

In the North and Scotland, Viscount, at 107% of control, is the obvious choice, with its enormous yield potential and eminent suitability for distilling markets.

Eastern growers will not be disappointed with its yield potential allied to its wide range of market outlets. In this region, the variety, at 105% of controls, is only beaten by the hard endosperm feed wheats Oakley and JB Diego, but is well in front of those older favourites Alchemy and Gladiator.

Only in the Western region does the yield of Viscount fall away a little, at 102% of controls. Nevertheless the variety will obviously still be a good choice for a number of soft wheat

outlets, such as export or pig and poultry feed.

Blackgrass suppression

Some recent work has shown that different wheat varieties have different capabilities of suppressing blackgrass, especially under conditions of high weed burden and difficult to control resistant populations. Data from trials carried out in 2008 under such conditions show that although Viscount doesn’t quite have the competitive ability of Robigus, it is not significantly different in this characteristic to Oakley, Einstein, Cordiale, Humber or Gladiator.

It does show better “control” of blackgrass than Alchemy and Hereward, however. This sort of information may help growers formulate a blackgrass control strategy; at the very least it can help prioritise which fields with difficult blackgrass should be targetted first, if spray days are limited.

Plant growth regulation

Viscount has similar straw strength to Robigus, although it is a shorter variety by some 6 cms. Probably the best approach is to ensure stem base shortening and stiffening by using cycocel based products during tillering, with an appropriate rate of Moddus at early stem extension. Some growers will consider an additional later PGR application, based on ethefon. If so, care will be needed to avoid causing undue stress and overshortening of the variety.

Disease control

The variety has excellent resistance to the rusts and Septoria nodorum with reasonably good resistance to Septoria tritici, Fusarium ear blight, eyespot and mildew. As such, disease control should be a relatively simple decision without the need for any “fire brigade” measures which might be required on varieties with susceptibility to the rusts.

Orange Wheat Blossom Midge

Viscount has genetic resistance to this pest and is unlikely to need treatment during ear development. This trait will obviously save growers the cost of an insecticide and its application, but also enable them to concentrate on those susceptible varieties that will need attention and careful spray timing to get the best control.

Harvest date

The ripening date for Viscount is similar to Robigus and Alchemy, perhaps two days or so behind Claire and Einstein. This trait will help to spread the timeliness of harvest appropriate to individual varieties, ensuring optimum grain quality.

Grain quality characteristics

Physical grain quality is good, with a bold, good looking grain and reasonable specific weight, at 75.8 kg/hl. Although the Hagberg Falling Number over the three years it has been in official trials comes out at 185, compared to Robigus at 197, an analysis of the data set does show that the variety is broadly similar to Robigus in achieving a range of HFN targets.

Clearly, those growers aiming for an export market for the variety should prioritise the harvest of Viscount, just as they would with any milling wheat. Professional growers for this market may well consider the use of a pre-harvest dessicant; if nothing else, it will enable harvest to proceed more rapidly, and give a cleaner, more uniform sample which may need less drying before storage.

End Markets

Distilling

The Scotch Whisky Research Institute rate Viscount as one of the best varieties for distilling purposes, with high spirit yields and low residual viscosity. They consider Viscount has the potential to make a significant impact on the distilling industry, and as such the variety will be an obvious choice for Scottish growers.

Export as a wheat

Viscount has all the functional qualities in its genetic makeup to be ideally suited as a soft wheat for the important export markets of Spain, Italy and Portugal. Contract specifications will vary between shippers, depending on country and potential end use, but it is evident from the excellent W and P/L values for Viscount that it will be suited to blending with other hard, high protein wheats in these countries. Obviously if growers are aiming for an export specification that demands a higher protein, more nitrogen will need to be applied to the crop than if growing for cake, starch or distilling outlets. Specific weight should be easily achievable for all export markets.

Biscuit

Viscount is currently not approved by NABIM as a Group 3 biscuit wheat, but further tests will take place during 2009 which may result in a reclassification of the variety for this relatively small but nevertheless important 300kt market.

Bioethanol

Production processes differ between potable and fuel alcohols, but similar manufacturing principles and parameters apply. Processors will require varieties with a high starch content (which is very highly correlated with the inverse of grain protein content) and low viscosities to get the highest alcohol yields, but ultimately, the lowest delivered cost of wheat to the bioethanol distillery will probably be the economic driver of the raw material buying strategy. Nevertheless, whatever the buying specification turns out to be, Viscount is likely to be the best choice variety for this market output as a soft endosperm, high yielding and low protein wheat.

Why Viscount?

Questions we are often asked:

1. Why don’t I just grow the highest yielding Group 4 Oakley?

2. I will get a biscuit premium with Claire. Why should I change?

Growers who are not convinced of the Gross Output possibilities of Viscount may find it useful to visit our online Viscount Gross Output Calculator . A few minutes of changing premium possibilities for the varieties displayed will give current and potential growers of Viscount the confidence that they have made the right choice.