The 2020/21 AHDB Recommended List features 27 new cereal and oilseed varieties, many boasting a step up in disease resistance, with oilseed rape yields taking a particularly big leap.
The winter barley Recommended List (RL) saw minor changes with just two new two-row feed varieties recommended for the UK – KWS Hawking and Jordan.
KWS Hawking offers a slight step forward in UK (104) and West (102) yield compared to KWS Gimlet and a similar agronomic package.
Jordan from Elsoms Ackermann offers a robust disease package with an 8 for brown rust, 7 for rhynchosporium, resistance to common strains of barley mosaic viruses and the highest untreated yields for a two-row feed variety on the 2020/21 RL at 89.
Two new feed varieties and three spring barley varieties under test for malting have been introduced for 2020/21.
SY Splendor, SY Tungsten and Iconic (the latter recommended only for the West) are being tested for brewing, while Firefoxx and SY Tungsten are being tested for distilling.
SY Splendor is well above its comparators on the list for yield at 107 per cent, with a good specific weight of 68.1kg/hl, but slightly lower disease ratings.
Potential malt distilling variety Firefoxx has a similar agronomic package to LG Diablo and Laureate, but is a step forward in yield at 106, particularly in the West and North. SY Tungsten has potential brewing and malting qualities, with the same attractive yield as Firefoxx, of 107 in the North.
Early maturing feed variety, Fairway by Senova has given very high yields in the East and North at 106, and limited data suggests it has stiff straw with very high resistance to brackling (8).
Prospect, also by Senova, boasts a very high yield in the East at 108.
For spring oats, the husked variety WPB Isabel has good quality characteristics with a specific weight of 55.7kg/hl and a kernel content of 76.8 per cent.
Limited data suggests that this variety has very high resistance to lodging with a preliminary score of 9. It has a treated yield of 104.