‘Super season’ for RGT Rashid
Andrew Cawood was fortunate enough to be able to try the variety ahead of this summer’s commercial launch. Grown on the lower two-thirds of a sandy loam field which was able to be ploughed, the 4ha block of RGT Rashid yielded between 11 and 12+t/ha, according to the combine yield meter, with an average of around 11.5t/ha expected.
“We power-harrowed and drilled the crop on 13 October at 409 seeds, which worked out at 192kg/ha, with an aim of establishing 350 seeds/sq m. It came into the spring looking well,” says Andrew.
“It was a fairly low-disease year, but we went ahead with a four-spray programme. There wasn’t a lot of disease coming up so nothing needed full rates of anything. But we did manage to cut back a little more on the RGT Rashid because of its good Septoria resistance scores.”
This newly recommended Group 3 biscuit wheat for the East region has the best Septoria tritici rating of all the soft wheats on the Recommended List (6.4 on the one-year rating) and good resistance to the rusts and Fusarium ear blight.
“The Rashid looked super all season,” says Andrew. “Like other RAGT varieties we grow, it looks a pretty consistent variety. I’m told it performs equally well as a first or second wheat, can be drilled early or late and can be grown on light or heavy soils, which will suit us.
“RGT Saki has performed in a similar fashion for us over the past four years – it yielded 11.6t/ha as a first wheat this harvest. but you do need to look at other things now and again. We also grew RGT Bairstow, which turned out to be our best second wheat at 10.5t/ha.
“We’re going to grow all three varieties again this coming season. I like the look of Rashid – it’s done well and you have to give it a proper go on a decent piece of land, so I’ve earmarked 15ha of our better land for the variety.”
RGT Rashid key points
• Secure choice biscuit wheat
• Highest yielding group 3 for the East
• Good grain quality
• Very good straw
• Excellent disease profile
• OWBM resistance
• Consistent performance across drilling dates, rotational position and soil types
* Go to www.ragtseeds.co.uk/news for more harvest news on RGT Rashid and other RAGT varieties.
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