Lincolnshire farmer sets new world record for wheat yield with 17.96t/ha crop
2nd February 2023
A crop of DSV Champion winter wheat grown by UK producer Tim Lamyman has been pronounced the official Guinness World Record for wheat yield, beating the existing record of 17.40t/ha achieved in New Zealand in 2020.
Record-yielding winter wheat variety DSV Champion growing in a field.
According to Tim Lamyman of Worlaby Farm in Lincolnshire, the incredible 17.96t/ha yield was the result of a focused team collaboration and learning from past errors.
“Having looked at the amazing all-round disease attributes of DSV Champion in 2020, Robert Lamyman decided we should try it that year. Unfortunately, we drilled it way too thinly,” he said.
“Despite achieving only 83 plants/m2 at establishment, the crop recovered amazingly and went on to produce up to 20 tillers/plant achieving a yield of 15t/ha at harvest 2021.”
With results from the 2021 season indicating good potential, the collaboration decided Champion had the specific traits needed to push UK wheat yields to new boundaries. Backed by a special agronomic programme developed by Frontier and BASF alongside Bionature smart nutrition, the 2022 crop lived up to expectations.
Clear potential from the get-go
The breeder of DSV Champion, Dr Matt Kerton, explained the variety’s potential was clear from an early stage in its breeding journey.
“The breeding process for DSV Champion started in 2012, and its outstanding yield potential was clear as soon as we started trials from 2016 onwards.
“But as the selection process continued, its exceptional disease resistance package and versatility were also increasingly in evidence,” he added.
Matt Kerton, breeder of DSV Champion.
Dr Kerton said the variety performed well in a range of growing conditions, such as early or late drilling and on light or heavy soils. He explained the key to the variety’s popularity has been a combination of high outright yield, flexibility and strong agronomics.
Reflecting on the Champion’s success, Dr Kerton commented: “It’s been an exciting journey to reach this point and it’s great to see DSV Champion do so well in growers’ fields as well as taking the world record for yield.
“But it’s very much a team effort with key players such as Michael Koch in our molecular laboratory, Graham Urquhart on the maintenance and agronomy side and Cindy Watts in grain quality, being fundamental to this achievement,” he added.
“As for the future, our focus is still very much on yield, practicality and disease resistance but other key traits such as improved Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) and drought tolerance are increasingly in our sights.”
The journey to success
According to Tim Lamyman, the record-breaking crop of DSV Champion was drilled on 22nd September at 125kg/ha and on 24th September at 150kg/ha with Vibrance Duo seed dressing.
“This was still 20% below our standard rate to take account of Champion’s fantastic ability to keep tillering. By February 2022 both crops looked on target to achieve the perfect 600 to 650 heads/m2,” he added.
Crop nutrition took centre stage in the agronomy programme implemented to maximise the performance of DSV Champion, Mr Lamyman explained. Among the products featuring in the 2022 programme were Chlormequat, Toledo, Modus, Revystar, Mysea, Syrex, Xstress, Calflux, Proline and Azofin Plus.
Moreover, Mr Lamyman said the farm’s fertilizer strategy is typically adjusted to weather conditions experienced over the winter and the amount of moisture available in the soil at the time of first application.
“Due to the last three springs being dryer than average, we have applied three or four even splits of Nitrogen but this changes back to five even splits if we are experiencing a wetter than average spring.
“For 2022’s Champion crops, we applied 3 x 103.5 Kg/N totalling 310.5kg N/ha of bagged Nitrogen. By applying some Bionature Delta K, to activate the root structures, and TipTop, the total N applied to the crop came to 314kg N/ha,” he added.
Due to the Champion’s high tillering and high biomass nature and ability to produce outstandingly long ears of over 15 cm, the Bionature smart nutrition program was tailored specifically to the variety, Mr Lamyman said.
Ultimately, it was the higher seed rate crop that recorded the highest yield and also delivered a specific weight of 83.2kg/hectolitre, he noted.
Commenting on the outcome of the 2022 season, Mr Lamyman said: “It has been a fantastic experience working within a collaboration team, who have all helped achieve these fantastic yields.”
DSV Champion growing at the Cereals 2022 event.
