A POPULAR cereal trials open day takes place next Friday after a year's break because of foot-and-mouth.

This year will see more varieties and trials than ever at Grange Farm, Croft, near Darlington.

Organised by Farmway in conjunction with the Home Grown Cereals Authority and ARC, it will feature almost 90 different plots.

Farmway has 30 one-acre blocks of barley, wheat and oilseed rape while, for the first time at Croft, the HGCA's entire recommended list of 27 winter barley and 32 winter wheat varieties will be open to inspection.

Anthony Hornshaw, the host farmer, was delighted the event was able to go ahead this year. Last year's decision was the right one, he said, adding: "But the plots were still here and it will be interesting for farmers to see what has happened since the last event."

David Hamilton, seed manager for Countrywide, one of Farmway's main suppliers, said there were some interesting varieties to see.

"Pearl and Regina are still the most widely grown barleys in the UK because of their malting potential, but a new potential maltster is Diamond," he said. "It has probably got better malting qualities than Pearl and also has good overall disease resistance." Carat was an interesting feed variety.

The wheats include Access, the top yielding variety, which can be prone to yellow rust.

Mr Hamilton expects a lot of interest in the Xi19 winter wheat which has a class one milling potential. However, it is very weak strawed so needs to be properly managed.

The oilseed rape plots include conventional and hybrid varieties. "The hopes there were for hybrids have not materialised because conventional varieties have caught up with them in terms of yields," said Mr Hamilton. Some conventional varieties now did better than hybrids.

At the open day, ARC staff will demonstrate the HGCA varieties and other ARC crop husbandry trials.

The open day runs from noon until 6.30 and includes refreshments and a barbecue. Farmers can also take their moisture meters along to be tested, free of charge