A trusted
stalwart?
Camelot’s
“
short, early and oily.
Growers who head
for short varieties
will like it.
”
34 crop production magazine march 2012
Low biomass and early maturing, DK Camelot
looks set to win favour with many growers
this autumn. CPM gets an insight.
Growers who head for short varieties, such
as Astrid and Castille, will like Camelot.”
Simon Kightley of NIAB TAG agrees.
“It’s right up there in the mix. Its key
advantage over the other leading varieties
is that it’s relatively short and early.”
Growers will welcome a new low-biomass,
relatively early variety, adds Nick Myers of
ProCam. “It does seem to be the natural
replacement for Castille. It ticks a lot of
By Tom Allen Stevens
boxes so will be very appealing to a lot
of growers.”
Like Apex, it may come to be
considered a “farmer-friendly all-rounder”,
remarks John Poulton of CropCo.
“Camelot’s reliable, consistent and should
have a long life.”
But the variety will draw something of a
line in the sand on those from the Dekalb
stable, according to breeder Matthew
▲
If Apex was the variety that first
introduced you to oilseed rape, and
Castille has been a trusted friend since,
then DK Camelot could be your knight
in shining armour. An open-pollinated
conventional variety, Camelot galloped
on to the 2012/13 Recommended List
last year for the East/West region.
With a treated gross output of 106, it’s
not the highest performing pure line. But
it’s the overall package that will attract
followers, says Richard Elsdon of United
Oilseeds. “Camelot’s short, early and oily.
INSIDERS VIEW
▲
Clarke. “It’s likely to be the
last pure-line variety we release
commercially. The rest of our
programme focuses exclusively
on hybrids.”
And it was this, in the early
days, that made Camelot
stand out from the breeding
programme. “It yielded like a
hybrid, but increasingly the
pure-line varieties that yield
are getting relatively tall and
relatively late. This one wasn’t
like that –– it was a lot shorter
and a lot earlier, so it showed
itself as something special.”
So Camelot bucked the
trend and got itself noticed, and
although Monsanto had made
the decision to focus purely
on the hybrids, the company
decided to bring on this one
last pure line. Matthew Clarke
is clear on what sort of grower
it’s likely to appeal to.
Growth habit
“Castille held on to a lot of
market share until recently,
even though it’s not as highyielding as Cabernet, because
growers liked its growth habit.
It’s been the same with
Canberra, and Apex was a
similar variety –– some varieties
get a reputation for being easy
to manage and easy to grow.”
He believes that those who
did well with Castille, but then
moved on to Cabernet and
Sesame for the higher yield,
will look favourably on Camelot.
“It has similar high yields as
the list leaders, but has the
advantage of spreading the
workload –– it’s both earlier
and shorter, and that has a
lot of appeal.”
Richard Elsdon agrees.
“Farmers with milling wheat
will be keen to get the rape
harvest out of the way. So
Camelot’s earliness to mature
will fit in well.”
This comes in a variety that’s
stiff and short, he adds. “There
are others out there that lead
on yield, but they are vastly
taller.”
He also notes the variety’s
high oil content. “Each
percentage point is worth £32/t
36 crop production magazine march 2012
Camelot’s likely to be the last
pure-line variety Dekalb releases
commercially, says Matthew Clarke.
at today’s prices. Camelot’s oil
content, at 46.4%, is only 0.1%
behind the highest oil varieties,
and it’s the highest for an
early variety.”
Simon Kightley points out
that Camelot will make a neat
addition to the variety portfolio
on a lot of farms. “You want to
have a mix to spread the risk. If
you look at the top five yielders
on the Recommended List, all
the others are taller and later.
So those putting in a large
acreage will do well to have a
variety that has a different
growth pattern.”
Weather risk
Spread the weather risk, too,
he advises. “Weather patterns
are so unpredictable. By
growing a range of maturity
types, you can cover the range
of conditions you are likely to
face at harvest –– timeliness is
so important.”
This is where Castille won
through, he believes. “Castille
lingered on at a farm-saved
seed level for a couple of years
too long because it was such a
significant variety –– it was
short and early and, until
recently, had consistent high
yields. It now lags behind on
yield, and that’s the gap in
the market.”
Camelot isn’t as early
as Castille or Excalibur at
flowering, he points out.
“But it’s significantly different
to Cabernet.
Robust programme
DK Camelot is one of six new
varieties, and the only conventional
type, to join the HGCA Recommended
List this year, notes list manager
Simon Oxley. “It has a good yield
with a shorter stem and it’s
earlier than other open-pollinated
varieties. But it will require attention
for phoma.”
This won’t be such a problem
for restored hybrid DK Expower, also
from Dekalb. “At 9, that’s the highest
on the list for stem canker.”
Thorin from LSPB is the third
variety to join the list with a
recommendation for the East/West
region. “It’s a high-yielding semi-dwarf
restored hybrid with short, stiff
stems.”
“It’s got a good level of
vigour for a conventional
variety, so expect it to establish
well. There are no surprises
with this variety –– stick with
the most reliable rapeestablishment method you use
and it should get away. It
should also be well suited to
strip-tilling, wide rows, and
other establishment techniques,
just so long as it can get its
root down.”
All three newcomers for the
northern region have strong light leaf
spot scores, notes Simon Oxley,
although their average yield isn’t a
huge improvement on what’s already
available.
Palace, from LSPB, and Artoga,
from Limagrain, are both restored
hybrids. “They both have a 7 for light
leaf spot and Artoga is a little earlier,
so should find favour in the north.”
Cracker, from LSPB, provides
northern growers with a combination
of good light leaf spot resistance, with
a score of 9, and club-root resistance.
“But there are strains of club root
that can beat resistant varieties, so
always use them carefully,” advises
Simon Oxley.
will also keep light leaf spot
in check if the crop is well
established. Use forecasts and
reports as a guide as to when
Camelot may require attention for
phoma, advises Simon Oxley.
to go. There could be a need to
top up in the spring.”
John Poulton agrees that
phoma control is vital. “Don’t
▲
“It’s not brilliant disease-wise,
either, so it clearly needs a
robust spray programme.”
This is mainly a reference to
Camelot’s stem-canker rating
–– a 5, based on limited data.
This isn’t the lowest on the list,
but it’s a score to be aware of,
he says.
“One thing to note is that the
Recommended List trials get a
robust spray programme which
benefits the high yielders. But it
was a blanket treatment –– all
plots were given the same dose
and timings. So with a variety
like Camelot in the field, you
could improve the timeliness
of sprays and get even more
out of it.”
So how would you go about
this? Autumn management is
much the same as any other
variety, says John Poulton,
who has seen Camelot
perform in Cambridge Arable
Technologies trials, as well
as on farm.
Recommended List newcomers
Plant population
Richard Elsdon believes the variety’s
earliness to mature will fit in well
on farm.
Aiming for a spring plant
population of 45/m2, John
Poulton says growers should
drill at a rate of 3-8kg/ha,
depending on soil conditions
and thousand-seed weight.
Richard Elsdon recommends a
“mid-range” rate of 80 seeds/m2,
but this can go down to
65 seeds/m2. “We supply seed
with a Cruiser (fludioxonil+
metalaxyl-M+ thiamethoxam)
dressing which also includes
a Detonator nutrient dressing,
giving it some phosphate,
potassium, magnesium, sulphur
and some N at drilling.”
The key timing for stemcanker control is in the autumn,
points out Nick Myers. “You’ll
need at least one fungicide
application, if not two. This
crop production magazine march 2012 37
Strong performance from first UK crop
It wasn’t the easiest debut for the first
field-scale crop of DK Camelot last year. But
having yielded 4.3t/ha on a thin soil type at
a farm near Peterborough, Cambs, the 21ha
seed crop proved the variety was capable of
delivering a solid performance, according to
Peter Fox of Dalton Seeds, who oversaw
the crop.
“The crop established strongly last season,
helped by good late-Aug drilling conditions, and
came through the hardest winter we’ve had for
many years in great heart. Despite the sharp
gravel subsoil and the very dry spring and
early summer –– not to mention winter pigeon
damage –– it didn’t disappoint.”
The low biomass crop proved easy to
manage and harvest, he confirms. “One of the
most noticeable things about the crop was its
ease of management. It responded well to a full
fungicide spray regime and a total of 168kgN/ha
split between early March and mid-April.
“The crop’s natural shortness meant no
compromise was needed between growth
regulation and disease control in the foliar
fungicide programme. It received a single spray
at flowering to protect against sclerotinia.”
Like Castille, Camelot benefits from a short
stem, notes Peter Fox. “Another thing we found
really valuable was the variety’s earliness of
maturity. Too many of the top performing
varieties these days seem to be getting their
yields from later maturity.”
He was also impressed by the variety’s oil
content. “The 47% oil we recorded from our DK
The crop established strongly and yielded well,
despite tough growing conditions.
Camelot last season was a great improvement
on the 43% typical with Castille. When added to
the variety’s 10% seed-yield advantage over
Castille it means a substantial lift in overall
crop value.”
Growers can concentrate on disease control in
the early spring, rather than growth regulation,
says John Poulton.
DK Camelot at a glance
Gross output
106
Resistance to lodging
[7]
Stem stiffness
7
Shortness of stem
8
Earliness of flowering
6
Earliness of maturity
6
Oil content
Light leaf spot
6
Stem canker
[5]
Source: HGCA 2012/13 Recommended List
[ ] – limited data
38 crop production magazine march 2012
46.4%
INSIDERS VIEW
▲
wait to see it in the crop –– treat to
protect.” Punch C (carbendazim+
flusilazole) or Proline (prothioconazole)
are his preferred products. “But feed it
at the same time –– you really can’t start
early enough. You want a broad-spectrum
foliar application of micronutrients.”
In the spring, provided there’s good
ground cover, the emphasis will be on the
later nitrogen dressing, says Nick Myers.
“But it’s a balancing act –– you want the
nutrients there for that rapid-growth phase
before the onset of flowering, but leave
it too late and some N will never get
taken up.”
Pod-set window
An early maturing variety, that’s putting
on a lot of oil, will have a narrow pod-set
window in which to do a lot of work,
he points out. “High N at that time can
suppress oil formation, but you need to
be sure the crop has taken up enough
–– a foliar top-up may be necessary if the
crop has gone hungry. The key thing is
to make sure the upper canopy, and
especially the pods, are disease-free
and can photosynthesise.”
The advantage of growing a low-biomass
variety is that there’s less need for a PGR
fungicide early on to tame the canopy.
“It means you can concentrate on disease
control at the later, yellow-bud stage.”
He recommends metconazole or
tebuconazole and azoxystrobin or
picoxystrobin at this timing to cover
sclerotinia, and reckons a two-spray
programme is needed.
John Poulton isn’t convinced of the
need of a second sclerotinia spray, but
agrees the optimum timing of inputs will
make all the difference with Camelot.
“If you have a number of varieties, make
it the first on the list to treat, not the last.
But the nutrients, timed right, will deliver
far more of the yield and oil than anything
out of a can.
“Growers will often drill three varieties
and treat all of them the same, then be
disappointed by two varieties, because
the management they adopted only suited
one. Camelot should be treated as an
individual –– get on in plenty of time and
it’ll reward you.” ■
Feeding the crop correctly can be a balancing act,
notes Nick Myers.
Growers can improve the timeliness of sprays
and get even more out of Camelot, reckons
Simon Kightley.
crop production magazine march 2012 39