A consistently solid performer, even in the difficult growing season of 2020, Evelina spring barley is said to be proving increasingly popular with livestock farmers due to its high grain and straw yields.
Supplied by Cope Seeds and available exclusively from Mole Valley Farmers, Evelina’s superb disease resistance makes it a versatile variety suitable for growing in all regions in the UK.
“This alongside competitive grain yields, tall straw and high specific weights, makes it a very useful spring cropping option,” Mole Valley arable trader James Henderson said.
Hampshire arable farmer Richard Monk has been growing Evelina since 2016.
“Overall, Evelina is an easy crop to grow and a tidy feed variety to go into ration mixes,” he said. “It’s easy to manage, combines well and produces a good-looking grain, with a decent specific weight. Its taller than the Recommended Listed varieties and has good resistance to lodging.
“The extra straw it produces will be of particular interest to livestock users. Any disease issues were managed without undue cost and straw height could be controlled to suit the end-use.”
Orkney grower Graeme Wilson grew Evelina for the first time in 2020 and said it had been a great success.
“What I’m looking for is quality grain, straw, earliness and health, and I believe Evelina ticks these boxes,” he added. “The yield was about 5t/ha wet, which given the field was quite reasonable and quality was good. We grew the crop mainly for the straw and we certainly weren’t disappointed getting 365 small square bales and 28 4×4 round bales off 2.6ha, which was approximately 5.5t/ha.
Gemma Clarke of seed suppliers Cope Seeds and Grain supported the grower’s comments on Evelina.
“In UK trials, Evelina showed outstanding disease resistance with no weaknesses, the grains produced high specific weights and had low screenings,” she said. “It has quick establishment and is early to mature, and the straw is visibly taller than other varieties.”
