Organic Plant Breeding

• Why

• The Journey So Far

• Going Forward

Cope Seeds & Grain Limited

• Family Business• Formed in 2002• Based in Lincolnshire• Specialise in Producing & selling

Organic Cereal, Pulse, Forage & Arable Silage crops

• Organic grain business est 2007• 6 members of staff

‘Looking at our sample results over the last 10 years, we are able to see a clear decline in the quality of domestic grain

coming into our mill’

Joe Lister, Shipton Mill

‘Over the last 5 years we have seen a significant increase in theavailability of imported organic cereals, while barley quality iscomparable to Uk production, the wheat is very different, on averagearound 5% higher in protein and available to buy year round making itVERY competitive in feed rations as it’s only a small premium overdomestic material, on a £ per point of protein basis it’s almost half thecost of domestic wheat . The UK is in deficit of organic proteins so incoming years we will need to increase our wheat protein levels toremain competitive.’

Organic Buyer of Large Feed Company

What is UK Conventional Plant Breeding Based On…..

YIELD YIELD YIELD

• Without yield advances (2%) varieties are unlikely to get onto the Recommended List.

• Missing out on potentially useful varieties?

• Without getting onto the Recommended List, varieties are discarded as they become less commercially viable

Why Wont the UK Plant Breeder Invest in the Organic Market?

SPECIES 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Winter Wheat 176119 170523 179281 176113 163784

Winter Barley 44229 42606 46767 44791 37499

Winter Hybrid Barley 6101 8810 7943 7899 7966

Winter Oats 7044 7911 7528 7552 7486

Winter Rye 693 691 1058 1281 2120

Winter Field Beans 2848 2520 4636 5098 4705

Winter Oilseed Rape 1121 861 1275 809 782

TOTAL Winter 238155 233922 248488 243543 224342

SPECIES 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Spring Wheat 8,584 9,616 10,870 10,138 10,261

Spring Barley 44,108 46,654 45,514 47,533 45,327

Spring Oats 3,010 4,050 3,954 2,721 3,099

Spring Triticale 625 815 1,133 587 819

Spring Oilseed Rape 125 66 43 0 12.4

Spring Field Beans 6,634 9,776 11,355 15,317 12,520

Total Spring 63,086 70,977 72,869 76,296 72,038

1. Seed sold organically accounts for approximately 5,000 tonnes – That’s across all species and varieties on offer

2. For a breeder to break even in the Winter Wheat market they need 18% market share (29,500 tonnes)

3. The most of any one variety that is sold organically is probably Mascani or Westminster at approximately 5-600tonnes

(Currently 64% Autumn / 36% Spring)

So What Is Happening Overseas….?

Breeding for Changes in Climate Change whilst also trying to meet the high expectations of growers, processors and end users.

Aspirations of Organic Breeding…• Reliability• Stability • Adaptability

All 3 components are extremely important in making the RIGHT selection process

* Creating lines that although the protein in low, they still are able to give the baking qualities needed. Does the quality market need to look past protein?

How Did it All Start…Biofach 2015

• Karl Joseph Mueller, Germany

• Michael Locher, a member of the Peter Kuntz Breeding team (GZPK), Switzerland & Germany

Later our collaberations included:

• Agri-Obtentions, France

• Edelhoff, Austria

What Happened Next…

Arranged for 6 winter wheat varieties to be placed into AGRIIs trial system at Throws Farm, Essex

Wiwa (GZPK)

Ataro (GZPK)

Govelino (Mueller)

Roderik (Mueller)

Skerzzo (Agriobtentions)

Hendrix (Agriobtentions)

End User Analysis

• ‘The Organic Wheats had high bushel weights which may explain why the dough was so bright & white’

• ‘Overall the best result was the Organic Wiwa, although lower protein out of the samples this had the most oven spring’

• ‘The samples of Ataro & Wiwaperformed better than our English types’

Leading Organic Miller

Harvest 2016 Results….Site 1

Entry

No.Entry Name Seeding Rate

Specific Weight

(kg/hl)Protein Hagberg

24/08/2016 % HFN

1 Crusoe 325 78.8 14.36 321

2 Skyfall 325 77.4 13.80 391

6 Wiwa 325 80.5 16.41 426

7 Ataro 325 79.5 15.90 408

8 Roderik 325 82.3 16.52 395

9 Govelino 325 80.4 17.40 399

10 SG-S1684-13 325 79.3 13.58 138

11 SG-S1825,14 325 76.8 14.18 400

12 SG-S1228-14 325 78.5 14.33 392

13 Hendrix 325 80.3 14.32 384

14 Skerzzo 325 80.7 15.94 251

16 Soisson 325 80.4 14.48 350

17 Cordiale 325 77.3 14.48 382

Site 2

Entry No. Entry Name Seeding RateYield (t/ha) @ 15% m.c. Protein Habgerg

12/08/2016 % HFN

1 Crusoe 325 9.48 12.96 350

2 Skyfall 325 9.52 12.24 418

5 Nelson 325 7.82 14.40 404

6 Wiwa 325 6.25 15.92 433

7 Ataro 325 7.69 14.39 407

8 Roderik 325 8.28 14.10 406

9 Govelino 325 5.93 15.85 395

10 SG-S1684-13 325 8.75 12.70 217

11 SG-S1825,14 325 9.43 12.42 403

12 SG-S1228-14 325 8.03 13.17 439

13 Hendrix 325 8.18 12.97 392

14 Skerzzo 325 8.30 13.99 393

16 Soisson 325 8.83 13.01 484

17 Cordiale 325 9.53 12.57 356

-46%-13%

The results seen in 2016 indicate that in difficult climatic conditions the organic cultivated varieties are more adaptable than the conventional ones

* Higher Proteins* Higher Specific Weights* Lower Mycotoxins

Image: Harvest 2016; GZPK variety ROYAL left, conventional variety on the right side.

If we cant find someoneto do it, we’ll do it ourselves….

Not quite land owners but it’s a start!

Our Plans for the Future

• 60 plus varieties including organically bred material• Organic seed treatments & fertiliser programmes on trial• Includes trials of Wheat blends, Barley blends and Oat blends

Moving Forward…

• EHOGOLD Winter Wheat• Continue building our relationships with Organic Plant

Breeders• Work Closer with the End User• What Happens if a crop fails to meet milling specification?

Left with low yielding feed wheat!• Seed Industry must be supported