Senova Variety View Autumn 2023
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VarietyView Introduction With the farming industry going through so much change as it prepares for life without BPS, it won’t surprise you to hear that Senova has also been firming up its future direction. As a result, we’ve had a planned handover at the top of the company and are now concentrating on the introduction of a whole raft of new varieties – bringing improvements for farmers and end users alike. Following Jeremy Taylor’s retirement in June after 35 years with the company, I am delighted to have taken on the role and responsibilities that come with being Senova’s managing director. We are very grateful to Jeremy for his contribution to the company and the legacy he left – we fully intend to build on that as we become an integral part of the industry’s sustainable future. There’s no doubt in our minds that there will be greater emphasis on the role of varieties and genetics in solving agronomic challenges and reducing the farming industry’s reliance on artificial inputs, so we are taking our duties seriously. Tom Yewbrey, Managing Director, Senova In this newsletter, you can find out about the up-and-coming varieties that we have high hopes for and discover more about our involvement in industry initiatives and events. As I write this in early November, many farms are cleaning up after storm Babet and storm Ciaran and very heavy rainfall – our thoughts are with those who have been flooded or still have drilling to take place. We wish you every success with the new cropping year. Almara WINTER WHEAT To give you some idea about the strength and breadth of our variety pipeline, we have over forty winter and spring cereal and pulse varieties making their way through the testing system. With one winter wheat variety, potential Group 3 Almara, up for recommendation later this year, there are a further three hard feed wheats – Riley, Memphis and Rufus – following on the year behind. Hot on their heels are another three hard feed wheats and two potential bread-making varieties. In addition, we have three conventional winter barleys in RL trials – one of which, provisional name Organa, brings highly desirable, two-row BYDV tolerance. Another, a variety with both BaYMV strain 1 and 2 resistance, Kitty, will be on our stand at Cereals ‘24. We also have two winter oat varieties making their presence felt, as well as a very promising spring oat, Zenith. Finally – there is our spring bean Navara, spring pea Batist and two spring barleys, NOS Munro and NOS Gambit. While it’s still early days for some of these, we are delighted to have so many varieties in development and look forward to updating you on their progress.

Winter beans – now and in the future Our market-leading winter bean varieties, Vespa and Vincent, continue to lead the way, topping the PGRO Descriptive List. Both have performed well in 2023, in what turned out to be a challenging year for pulses. As we head into a new cropping year and with new SFI payments now on offer for companion cropping and the use of legumes for nutrient management, there is more interest than ever in winter beans and their role in sustainable farming systems. Whether you want to increase plant diversity, reduce fertiliser bills, widen the rotation or find ways to...

Verdict on Cromwell It was worth the wait for our new winter oat variety Cromwell, which came along nearly two decades after our ever-popular Mascani was introduced. Another variety from the IBERS breeding programme, Cromwell was approved at the end of last year and joined the AHDB Recommended List 2023/24 as a high yielding husked variety with good milling quality. A Mascani cross, Cromwell’s first commercial harvest has given the industry confidence in its ability to meet the needs of both growers and millers, with high yields and good grain quality achieved. Crucially, the millers’...