WinterWheat Viscount– The UK’s premium Viscount

Viscount – KWS UK Winter Wheat
The UK’s premium
soft wheat With a strong focus and a growing variety portfolio of Viscount
market leading oilseed rape, maize, sugar beet as well
• UK’s highest yielding premium soft wheat as cereals, KWS UK is one of the UK’s leading plant You’re never far from
• Very wide range of markets breeding business. a golden opportunity
• Excellent agronomics
• Orange Wheat Blossom Midge resistant Part of the KWS global plant breeding business KWS UK uks
benefits from the combined resources and expertise of a
Data from the HGCA Recommended List database, full data at www.hgca.com company with a 150 year pedigree.

5 Viscount As a result of our strong focus on most major UK crops
we are able to properly position our products across the
rotation for maximum margin and market potential for
farmers.

This year the company introduces its Product Development
Focus – including a product development field at Thriplow –
to provide a more comprehensive package of information
and support that places our varieties into the supply chain
to maximise grower returns.

Among the topics in focus this year will be nitrogen timings,
optimum sowing dates, fertilizer rates and appropriate
fungicide programmes. We will also focus on oilseed rape,
maize and sugar beet.

If you would like to attend an open day at kws.pdf please
visit www.kws-uk.com or www.kws-pdf.com for dates,
or contact Elizabeth Hall on 01763 207300.

KWS UK Ltd
56 Church Street
Thriplow
Nr Royston
Hertfordshire SG8 7RE
Tel: +44 (0) 1763 207300
Fax: +44 (0) 1763 207310
E.mail: [email protected]
www.kws-uk.com

Winter Wheat

KWS UK Growers Guide to

With a strong focus and a growing variety portfolio of market Viscount Winter Wheat
leading oilseed rape, maize, sugar beet as well as cereals,
KWS UK is one of the UK’s leading plant breeding business. uks

Part of the KWS global plant breeding business KWS UK
benefits from the combined resources and expertise of a
company with a 150 year pedigree.

As a result of our strong focus on most major UK crops we
are able to properly position our products across the rotation
for maximum margin and market potential for farmers.

This year the company introduces its Product Development
Focus – including a product development field at Thriplow –
to provide a more comprehensive package of information and
support that places our varieties into the supply chain to
maximise grower returns.

Among the topics in focus this year will be nitrogen timings,
optimum sowing dates, fertilizer rates and appropriate fungicide
programmes. We will also focus on oilseed rape, maize and
sugar beet.

If you would like to attend an open day at kws.pdf please
visit www.kws-uk.com or www.kws-pdf.com for dates,
or contact Elizabeth Hall on 01763 207300.

KWS UK LTD
56 Church Street
Thriplow
Nr Royston
Hertfordshire SG8 7RE
Tel: +44 (0) 1763 207300
Fax: +44 (0) 1763 207310
E.mail: [email protected]
www.kws-uk.com

Growers guide to Viscount Winter Wheat Sowing date

This guide has been written to help first time growers, of Viscount, get the best out of this From early September sowings, Viscount can be expected to
exciting new variety, while enabling prospective growers to understand the characteristics reach GS 31 perhaps two days before Robigus; to avoid any
and benefits of Viscount before autumn 2009 sowing decisions are made. possibility of frost damage to the growing point, it is probably
better to start sowing Viscount from mid-September
It is based on data obtained from the National List and CEL Recommended List trials onwards, although in the north or at altitude, the date could
carried out during the harvest years of 2006 to 2008, as well as trials carried out by KWS be brought forward by a few days with comparative safety.
UK and other agronomic organisations during the same time period.
Limited data shows Viscount to be one of the highest yielding
Breeder: KWS UK Ltd varieties from a late November/early December sowing date,
Parentage: Robigus x Canterbury (Riband x Lynx, with very short, stiff straw) making it an ideal, easy to grow variety following sugar beet
Added to RL: November 2008 or potatoes.
Chlorotoluron: Viscount is CTU tolerant
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 Orange Wheat Blossom Midge

In the North and Scotland, Viscount, at 107% of Viscount has genetic resistance to this pest and is unlikely to need treatment during ear
control, is the obvious choice, with its enormous yield development. This trait will obviously save growers the cost of an insecticide and its
potential and eminent suitability for distilling markets. application, but also enable them to concentrate on those susceptible varieties that will
need attention and careful spray timing to get the best control.
Eastern growers will not be disappointed with its
yield potential allied to its wide range of market Harvest date
outlets. In this region, the variety, at 105% of
controls, is only beaten by the hard The ripening date for Viscount is similar to Robigus and Alchemy, perhaps two days or so
endosperm feed wheats Oakley and JB Diego, behind Claire and Einstein. This trait will help to spread the timeliness of harvest appropriate
but is well in front of those older to individual varieties, ensuring optimum grain quality.
favourites Alchemy and Gladiator.
Grain quality characteristics
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 Physical grain quality is good, with a bold, good looking grain and reasonable specific
outlets, such as export or pig and poultry feed. 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
Blackgrass suppression does show that the variety is broadly similar to Robigus in achieving a range of HFN targets.

Some recent work has shown that different wheat varieties have different capabilities of % success rate at reaching various HFN targets over 3 years
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 HFN Scout Cassius Viscount (Oakley) (Alchemy) Robigus Claire
show that although Viscount doesn’t quite have the competitive ability of Robigus, it is not >250 29 16 21 0 32 24 58
significantly different in this characteristic to Oakley, Einstein, Cordiale, Humber or Gladiator. >225 42 21 25 13 50 29 58
It does show better “control” of blackgrass than Alchemy and Hereward, however. This sort >200 71 38 42 13 68 50 79
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 Data source: HGCA Recommended List for winter wheat, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
days are limited. Oakley 2008 only; Alchemy 2007 and 2008 only.

Plant growth regulation Clearly, those growers aiming for an export market for
the variety should prioritise the harvest of Viscount,
Viscount has similar straw strength to Robigus, although it is a shorter variety by some 6 cms. just as they would with any milling wheat. Professional
Probably the best approach is to ensure stem base shortening and stiffening by using growers for this market may well consider the
cycocel based products during tillering, with an appropriate rate of Moddus at early stem use of a pre-harvest dessicant; if nothing
extension. Some growers will consider an additional later PGR application, based on ethefon. else, it will enable harvest to proceed
If so, care will be needed to avoid causing undue stress and overshortening of the variety. more rapidly, and give a cleaner,
more uniform sample which may
Disease control need less drying before storage.

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.

End Markets Why Viscount?

Distilling Questions we are often asked:
1. Why don’t I just grow the highest yielding Group 4 Oakley?
The Scotch Whisky Research Institute rate Viscount as one of the best varieties for 2. I will get a biscuit premium with Claire. Why should I change?
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, Growers who are not convinced of the Gross Output
and as such the variety will be an obvious choice for Scottish growers. possibilities of Viscount may find it useful to visit our website
at www.kws-uk.com and have a go on the Viscount
Export as a wheat calculator which you will find there. A few minutes of
changing premium possibilities for the varieties displayed
Viscount has all the functional qualities in its genetic makeup to be ideally suited as a soft will give current and potential growers of Viscount the
confidence that they have made the right choice.
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.

Viscount – No. 1 for distilling Viscount has moderate winter dormancy and is suited to
The UK’s premium No other soft wheat is higher yielding than Viscount in the sowing from mid-September onwards. It has good tillering
soft wheat HGCA Northern Region. With a large, bold bright grain ability and tiller retention.
that provides one of the highest alcohol extraction levels in
SWRI trials, Viscount closely meets distiller needs. Viscount is 6cm shorter than Robigus and has similar PGR
requirements.
Furthermore, with the emerging bioethanol market requiring
As the highest yielding soft wheat on the 2009 /10 high alcohol extraction, here again, Viscount closely meets Straw strength Straw strength
HGCA Recommended List, Viscount is set to become a these end-market needs. (+PGR) (-PGR)
market-leading export, distilling and bioethanol variety.
No. 1 for pig and poultry feed
As a non 1B1R variety, Viscount is suitable for feeding to 87
pigs and poultry. And with a yield that’s not significantly
6 different from leading feed wheat Oakley, Viscount suits the This is backed by a very strong disease resistance profile
UK’s feed needs as well. with good S. tritici and S. nodorum resistance complementing
UK biscuits its excellent scores for both rust diseases.
Biscuit making
5 Due to some variable results from a difficult 2008 harvest, the
UK cakes decision as to whether Viscount should be labelled as NABIM
UK distilling Group 3 for biscuit and cake making cannot be made before
autumn 2009. It is however, likely to find a home in some mills.
4
Potential Market (million tonnes)not yet proven the UK’s highest yielding soft wheat
Treated Yield (% control)acceptableAt 105% of control, Viscount is the highest yielding soft
acceptable wheat on the HGCA Recommended List.

3 acceptable HGCA Recommended List – Mean Treated Yield Viscount 6 Alchemy 7
106 Mildew 8 Mildew 9
export Yellow rust 9 Yellow rust 3
104 Brown rust 6 Brown rust 7
2 S. tritici (8) S. tritici 7
102 S. nodorum 5 S. nodorum 6
1 Eyespot (6) Eyespot 6
100 Fusarium Fusarium
0 Viscount
UK Premium 98

Soft Wheat acceptability 96

market 94
Viscount CassiusZebedeeAlchemy Robigus Claire
No. 1 for export Data source: HGCA Recommended List 2009/10 for Winter Wheat
Backed by a yield that is 3% ahead of Alchemy and 4% Data source: HGCA Recommended List 2009/10 for Winter Wheat
in front of Robigus, Viscount is the highest yielding wheat 3 Viscount Viscount is also resistant to
suited for UK soft wheat exports. Orange Wheat Blossom
Midge and is unlikely to
It sits within the quality range required for branding, require specific treatment.

is acceptable for use in European soft wheat grists and has

performed well in continental baking tests. As with any premium wheat,
Viscount should be given
W P/L Protein priority at harvest to protect
sample quality, and be
uks minimum specification ≤120 ≤0.55 10.5-11.5% stored separately wherever
possible.
Viscount 78 0.3 11.3%

Data source: HGCA Recommended List 2009/10 for Winter Wheat

2 Viscount 4 Viscount