A NORTHUMBERLAND farm has been officially recognised as holding the world record for growing the highest yielding wheat crop.

The 16.52 t/ha seed crop of Dickens grown by Rod Smith and his Beal Farm team on 11.3 ha on the Northumberland coast opposite Holy Island has been verified and accepted by the Guinness Book of Records.

It was almost one tonne per hectare more than the previous world record of 15.64t/ha which New Zealand's Mike Solari held for more than five years.

The Beal Farm record was achieved with a strictly commercial agronomy programme involving barely two thirds the amount of fertiliser nitrogen fertiliser used in the previous record. Total input costs of under £46/t underlines the financial success of the crop even at feed wheat values of little more than £100/t.

Part of the Agrii Best of British Wheat 15t Challenge, the Dickens crop grown for Master Seeds was selected for its northern potential and managed with a carefully prescriptive nutritional and crop protection programme from sowing to harvesting.

"We’re proud to have put Northumberland in its rightful place at the top of the world wheat rankings," said Rod Smith.

"We may be well outside the country’s arable heartland but there’s a long heritage of first class wheat growing up here which deserves the wider recognition we hope our achievement will bring."

The farm makes extensive use of tracks, sub-soiling and rotational ploughing, thoroughly incorporates straw and adds 500 tonnes of muck annually to maintain the most productive soil structure and health.

"Over the years we’ve developed a system that suits our ground and conditions well," said Mr Smith. "We’ve found producing quality seed crops with integrated Agrii agronomy invaluable in helping us maximise performance and profitability across the entire 250ha or so of wheat we grow each year."