New soft wheat is strong contender for Northern England and Scotland

High yields coupled with distilling potential and early maturity are set to make new soft Group 4 winter feed wheat variety, Savello, being launched for this autumn, a strong contender across Northern England and Scotland, says its breeder Syngenta.

Samantha Brooke, seed manager for Syngenta, said: “Savello has already progressed through initial distilling tests, and we hope for full approval for distilling after this harvest.

“Scotland and Northern England are key areas for wheat distilling for use in blended whisky or bioethanol production. The big appeal of Savello is its high yield in this part of the country.

“Savello has the highest treated yield figure of the soft Group 4 winter wheats in the North on the AHDB Recommended List.

“Added to that it offers the prospect of a prompt harvest, which is also so important in Scotland and Northern England. It has a ripening score of zero days compared with the control variety on the AHDB Recommended List.”

In Scotland, Mrs Brooke says interest in winter wheat has increased with growth in whisky and as a crop for diversifying rotations with the three-crop rule.

For growers including more wheat in rotation, she says the very strong performance of Savello as a second wheat could also be useful. Savello also offers growers a resistance rating to yellow rust of eight on the current AHDB Recommended List, she adds.

“Like the hard feed wheat Shabras, which we also launched recently, Savello has produced very consistent yield performance over the last three seasons on the AHDB Recommended List. Yield consistency is an important factor in times of unpredictable grain prices.

“Although Savello will be available on a fairly limited scale this autumn, we are very excited about its future potential,” she adds.