Special advice on added-value crops

A number of added-value specialist crops will be showcased at Cereals – including spelt wheat, canary seed and linseed.

Alternative crops targeting specialist markets can generate a valuable additional source of farm income – so long as they meet specification, says Nigel Padbury, of seed suppliers Premium Crops.

Crops will include staple added-value crops like winter and spring linseed, including a high omega-3 variety, high erucic acid oilseed rape varieties and some spring sown options, high protein wheats, naked oats and canary seed.

A spelt wheat crop plot will highlight a special contract for growers. Also special will be two cover crop mixtures – one sown as a precursor to a spring linseed crop and the other as a precursor to a canary seed crop.

“We will be showing how you can produce a cover crop that will give you a good entry into what is really quite a small seeded spring crop. It will do all the things you want from a cover crop, while providing a good seedbed for a small seeded crop afterwards.”