First winter wheat RL Harvest Results 2019

The first Harvest Results for AHDB Recommended Lists (RL) winter wheat trials are reported. Results include five treated sites from Devon, Essex, North Yorkshire (x2) and Suffolk. The average yield of control varieties in these trials stands at 12.50t/ha, ahead of the five-year average of 11.31t/ha.

In 2019, the Group 4 varieties LG Skyscraper (soft) and KWS Kerrin (hard) lead the way at 106%, followed by LG Spotlight (soft) and Graham (hard), both with a yield of 105%.

Yield isn’t everything with quality wheats, says AHDB, but the top yielding nabim Group 1 bread variety is Crusoe (100%), KWS Siskin is the highest yielding nabim Group 2 bread wheat (102%) and KWS Firefly and KWS Barrel lead the nabim Group 3 biscuit yields (102%).

Current good performers, based on five-year average yields alone, include the soft Group 4 varieties LG Skyscraper (105%) and LG Spotlight (103%) as well as the hard Group 4 varieties RGT Gravity (103%), Gleam (103%) and KWS Kerrin (103%). Based on these figures, the highest yielding nabim Group 1 variety is KWS Zyatt (99%). The nabim Group 2 varieties with the highest yields are KWS Siskin (100%) and KWS Extase (100%). For nabim Group 3, KWS Firefly and KWS Barrel, both with a yield of 101%, have highest yields for the Group.

2019 Candidates

Looking at the five-year averages, the Group 4 candidates are performing well on yield: KWS Kinetic (hard,104%), LG Graduate (soft, 103%), KWS Parkin (hard, 102%), RGT Lantern (hard, 101%), Elysium (soft, 101%) and Theodore (hard, 100%). The potential bread-making variety RGT Blossom (99%) is also performing well on yield.

Winter barley yields close to five-year average

Harvest Results from 19 AHDB Recommended Lists (RL) winter barley trials sites (Aberdeen, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, County Londonderry, Devon, Dorset, East Yorkshire, Hampshire, Glamorgan, Lincolnshire, Moray, Norfolk, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, the Scottish Borders, Suffolk and Warwickshire) have been published – the average treated yield of control varieties (10.05t/ha) is close to the five-year average (10.02t/ha).

Information on untreated yields is now available from 10 sites, in Cambridgeshire, County Londonderry, Devon, Dorset, Fife, Hampshire, Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire and the Scottish Borders. The average untreated yield from the controls is 7.55t/ha, which is behind the five-year average of 7.97t/ha.

In 2019, the six-row hybrid varieties SY Baracooda (109%), SY Kingsbarn (108%), Sunningdale (107%), Belfry (107%) and Belmont (107%) are performing well. The yields of the six-row conventional feed varieties are KWS Astaire (105%) and Funky (105%). KWS Gimlet (105%) and LG Mountain (105%) are showing the best yields so far in 2019 for the two-row feed varieties. These varieties were both new to the 2019/20 Recommended List.

Two-row malting varieties are judged more on their quality than outright yield. Currently, the average yields of the fully approved malting varieties are Craft (97%) and SY Venture (91%). The provisionally approved variety Electrum currently has a yield of 99%.

2015–19 (five-year) averages

The six-row hybrids SY Baracooda (108%), Belmont (108%) and SY Kingsbarn (108%) are performing well on yield in the five year averages. The yield performance of the six-row conventional feed varieties is KWS Astaire (105%) and Funky (104%). For the two-row feeds, KWS Gimlet (104%), LG Mountain (104%), LG Flynn (102%) and KWS Orwell (102%) have produced the highest yields.

Five-year average results also provide a better measure of Candidate varieties. Results can only be published when varieties have completed national listing. The Candidate six-row hybrid variety SY Kingston (107%) has achieving similar yields to recommended varieties in the five-year average figures. The Candidate two-row feed varieties KWS Hawking (104%), Jordan (103%) and KWS Patriot (103%) are performing well. The Candidate two-row malting varieties Fay and Zophia both have a five-year average yield of 96%.