Winter oats recommended list

Recommended List winter oat harvest results show treated yields close to average

The harvest results for the RL winter oat trials are now available. Results for seven fungicide-treated trials are reported: Devon, Hampshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Herefordshire, County Down and Fife. Results are also available for six fungicide-untreated trials, with just the Fife untreated trial to report.

The average yield of control varieties in the treated trials stands at 9.13 t/ha, just 0.04 t/ha ahead of the five-year average (9.09 t/ha). In the untreated trials, yield of the control varieties is 7.31 t/ha 0.51 t/ha below the five-year average (7.82 t/ha).

2022/2023 season

This year proved a difficult one for winter oat trials. Two pairs of trials were not drilled for technical reasons and a third pair failed to establish. However, the remaining trials performed well and there were good levels of disease in the untreated trials, reflected in the lower than average yield for these trials.

Calculating yield results

Yields are represented as a percentage of the control varieties. In 2023, Dalguise, Mascani and RGT Southwark are the control varieties. The average yield from these varieties is represented as 100%.

2023 results

Most varieties have performed as expected in 2023. In the fungicide-treated trials the husked varieties RGT Southwark and newly recommended variety Cromwell are highest yielding (105%) followed by Dalguise (101%). Gerald is on 96%, with market leader Mascani on 95%. The candidate variety Valentine is on 100%.

For the naked varieties, the market is different and yield isn’t everything. Peloton is the highest yielding in the fungicide-treated trials on 78%, followed by Fusion (72%) and Grafton (70%).

In the fungicide-untreated trials again the husked varieties RGT Southwark and newly recommended variety Cromwell are highest yielding (109%), well ahead of next highest yielding recommended variety Gerald (97%). The candidate variety Valentine is on 98%.

In the naked varieties again Peloton is the highest yielding on 83%, followed by Grafton (70%) and Fusion (66%).

Using the five-year average

The 2023 results show yields based on one season. The five-year average is a better measure of variety performance over seasons.

On this measure RGT Southwark is highest yielding in the fungicide-treated trials (105%), followed by newly recommended Cromwell (103%) and Dalguise (101%). The candidate variety Valentine is on 102%.

In the naked varieties, Peloton is again the highest yielding (77%), followed by Fusion (73%) and Grafton (72%).

In the untreated trials RGT Southwark is highest yielding (109%), with Cromwell on 102% and candidate variety Valentine on 101%. In the naked varieties, Peloton is again the highest yielding (81%), followed by Grafton (70%) and Fusion (67%).

Further information

Access the full trial results

AHDB Recommended Lists (RL) trials test variety performance under optimum conditions. Care should be taken when making comparisons with commercial yields. Results from individual trial sites should not be used to make conclusions on variety performance. The RL publications are based on information from trials across the UK over several seasons. As more information becomes available from the current harvest, this will contribute to the over-trials averages – which comprise four years for oilseeds and five years for cereals. These averages provide better information for comparison between varieties. Performance variation is not the responsibility of AHDB. Since the focus is to test new varieties, not all RL varieties are presented. Yields for well-established varieties are published at ahdb.org.uk/rl