History has given us some big rivalries. Think Borg versus McEnroe, Messi versus Ronaldo and Ali versus Frazier. To this you can add another heavyweight rivalry that has been going almost 25 years!
Yes, Willow Solutions brings together two of the world’s greatest Willow Breeders. We are pretty certain of this because there are only a handful of us on the planet!
I started my career as a willow breeder at Long Ashton Research Station in 1996. By the time that LARS shut down in 2003, I had bred some very impressive, (dare I say) industry leading willow varieties, most notably Endurance and Resolution. But at the height of my powers as a willow breeder, I decided to retire from the sport. In my final 6 months though, I mentored a young pretender to the crown, a student from Reading University called Will Macalpine.
Will has now been a willow breeder at Rothamsted Research for 22 years – three times as long as my tenure at LARS. Will’s efforts have brought forth the varieties Roth Cheviot, Roth Hambleton and Roth Mourne and there are plenty more in the pipeline.
Kevin (left and right) and Will (centre) back in the day! Kevin stood on a Landrover in 1998 next to a plot of 6 month old plot of Resolution! That’s 3.85 metres growth in 6 months from a 20cm cutting. Now that’s what you call a Super Willow!
Down the years there have been lots of willow trials involving Will’s varieties and mine which has enabled a very friendly rivalry to form to see who would get the bragging rights.
So, I am sure that you are all desperate to know who wears the Willow Breeding crown?
Well, I don’t like to crow (well then again maybe I do!) but when it comes to the current head to head tally I can’t deny that I’m quite a few ahead of Will. But hold the pack page! The best indication of willow breeding supremacy will happen when the Biomass Connect sites are harvested in the years to come. We have six varieties each in eight sites across the country. (We should also recognise that our varieties are up against some good Swedish ones too). It’s a battle of the Titans and one to watch out for the results.
Whilst we await the unveiling of the undisputed champ we’ll have to make do with playing each other at daft sport. Down the years this has included one on one football (Will won), Penalty shootout with a deflated ball into a willow arbour wearing welly boots (Will won) and killer darts (Will won).
It’s a rivalry that transcends sport!
But seriously, between the two of us there is very little we don’t know about willow and other biomass crops.
What we both agree on, is that we want growers to have access to robustly tested, willow varieties with proven yield results and pest and disease resistance. Both our breeding stables have been thoroughly tested. It’s established best practice to plant a 6-way-mix so growers don’t need to pick their favourite – they can benefit from the crème of the crop from both Salix supremos!
By making a purchase from Willow Solutions you can be sure you are backing a winner!
For more information on why our varieties are different read:
