Why attention to detail gets most from cereals

• Input-output ratio is key

• Invest on merit, not habit

• Know your crops and soils

Growers looking to optimise margins from cereals this season should invest in crops where the money will have most impact, say experts.

Lessons learned from a challenging harvest 2024 suggest that farms which hold back on inputs due to high fertiliser costs see lower quality and poorer returns – with fewer wheat growers hitting premium milling thresholds.

A difficult autumn in 2023 saw nitrogen reserves and other nutrients washed from the soil, further reducing crop quality and yield potential for harvest 2024, says the review by data analysts Yagro.

Unpredictable

“For some, the response was simply to close the chequebooks and accept it was going to be a tough year. But farms which chose to invest strategically, even as conditions turned unpredictable, managed to make their crop meet milling standards.”

The review says investing in crops isn’t about throwing money at inputs; it’s about understanding where that money will work best. This requires intimate knowledge about varieties, soils and what they need to thrive under varying conditions.

“Farming has always required a high level of investment both in terms of initial investment, and seasonally – investing for eleven months before gathering your return in one month,” it says.

At the same time, growers face the multiple requirements of navigating the weather, cashflow, interest rates and commodity markets. “Few other industries have such a challenge,” says the report.

Gross margins

Winter wheat continues to deliver the bulk of gross margin for most arable farmers. Yet many growers held back on nitrogen applications in 2024 – despite a fall in nitrogen prices from highs seen in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Application rates have not returned to their pre-price hike level before 2021, despite reduced availability of residual nitrogen in soils,” explains the Yagro report, which says data suggests in many cases that not enough nitrogen was applied.

“Volatility at input and output threatens to squeeze margins each year. But perhaps the biggest risk to growers is the increasingly regular extreme weather events we are experiencing, causing floods and severely hampering production.”

Even growing a staple crop like winter wheat isn’t without risk today, says the report. The weather made it a tough year to judge varieties. But, equally, it was an opportunity to judge how different varieties perform under difficult conditions.

Varieties

Reliably high-yielding variety Skyfall returned a relatively low cost per hectare to compete with other Group 1s on a cost per tonne basis. Its late sowing window makes the variety a highly versatile choice – reflected in its broad range in terms of yield.

A median crop of Skyfall achieved 9.47t/ha in harvest 2024. Low yielding crops achieved just 6.05t/ha – although the top 25% of growers achieved more than 10.26t/ha with the best achieving 11.36t/ha.

Delving into Group 4 varieties, LG Typhoon stands out for cost efficiency – particularly in its balance between cost per hectare and cost per tonne, leading the yields with around 9.8t/ha, but with very moderate input costs.

Inputs and outputs

With a fertiliser cost some 17% lower than the next closest variety, LG Typhoon provides good yield efficiency, delivering higher output relative to each pound spent on inputs, says the Yagro report.

KWS Dawsum continues to gain in popularity, emerging as one of the most sought after Group 4 varieties due to its reliable yield potential and balanced cost profile.

In 2024, KWS Dawsum fungicide costs per hectare were approximately 5% lower than the average across comparable varieties such as LG Typhoon, DSV Champion, and Gleam, while its herbicide spend per hectare is on the higher end.

Despite having higher herbicide cost per hectare than SY lnsitor and LG Typhoon, KWS Dawsum costs per hectare are offset by a relatively high yield. This makes it an attractive option for growers who are focused on maximising crop output while controlling cost per tonne.

To download the complete Yagro Harvest 2024 review, visit www.yagro.com