Winter oilseed rape recommended and candidate lists

Results from five additional winter oilseed rape Recommended List trials increases variability

• Fungicide treated yields available from an additional five RL winter oilseed rape trials
• Average control yield is 4.86 t/ha, which is 0.37 t/ha below the 4-year average

Results from an additional five Recommended List winter oilseed rape trials have been published today, covering sites in Yorkshire, Herefordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Lincolnshire. The full list of trials can be found here. The highest-yielding trial reported to date remains the Hampshire site, with an average control yield of 5.72 t/ha.

The inclusion of these additional trials has bought the average yield for control varieties down to 4.86 t/ha, which is 0.37 t/ha below the 4-year average.

Yields continue to vary considerably between locations, ranging from an average control yield of 3.96 t/ha in Yorkshire to 5.72 t/ha in Hampshire. Further northern-region trial results are still to be reported, with these sites typically achieving higher yields than those further south.

2025–26 season overview

The 2025–2026 season brought the usual mix of challenges for winter oilseed rape trials; cabbage stem flea beetle, variable establishment, overwinter waterlogging and pigeon damage, but their overall impact has been relatively low, with only one trial lost before harvest. Clubroot has not affected any RL trials this year, though two Variety List trials in South Wales were abandoned on a farm with no previous history of the disease, showing how clubroot is becoming a more widespread issue.

As with commercial crops, yield prospects looked generally strong ahead of harvest, with hot weather pushing crops rapidly towards maturity. It is still too early to assess the full impact of limited rainfall, but initial results suggest it may not have had a significant impact, and northern trials are expected to be less affected, with potential for higher yields.

Light leaf spot pressure has been lower than usual in RL trials this season, and data for both light leaf spot and canker is published alongside the yield results.

Average yields

Yields are reported as a gross output, which is the seed yield adjusted for oil content. The values are represented as a percentage of the control varieties; LG Adapt, Aurelia, Turing, LG Armada and Pi Pinnacle.

2026 trial yields

The inclusion of additional trial results has increased yield variability across sites, likely driven by extreme temperatures and limited rainfall ahead of harvest, which have highlighted differences in soil type and moisture retention. Despite the growing dataset, only eight fungicide-treated trials have been reported to date, and results should therefore continue to be interpreted with caution. The highest‑yielding variety at this stage is the newly recommended hybrid for the UK Dompteur on 106%.

LG Adapt, a hybrid variety for the UK is on 105%. A group of varieties follows closely behind on 104%, including Turing and Maverick, both hybrid varieties for the East/West region, along with the newly recommended UK hybrid Karat. The other newly recommended hybrid for the UK KWS Domingos is slightly behind on 102%.  Among the more established varieties, LG Academic, a hybrid variety for the UK, is on 103%, while LG Adeline, a hybrid variety for the North region, is just behind on 102%.

Results within the conventional varieties are more variable. Pi Pinnacle, recommended for the UK, is performing ahead of its four‑year average at 100%. The newly recommended UK conventional variety Bachus is at 96%, broadly in-line with its four-year average. The more established Tom, recommended for the UK, is just above its four‑year average at 97% while Annika, recommended for the East/West region, is on 94%. Powerhouse, recommended for the North, is currently at 86%, though this may improve as results from northern trials are added.

The only newly recommended clubroot‑resistant variety for the North, Crios (91%), is currently performing below its four‑year average of 96%. Crusoe, recommended for the UK, is the highest‑yielding clubroot‑resistant variety at 97%, just below its four‑year average of 98%. Cromputer, also recommended for the UK, is at 96%, matching its four‑year average.

LG Calvin CL, a newly recommended herbicide tolerant variety for the UK, currently sits at 93%, in-line with its four-year average. Matrix CL, recommended for the UK, and Beatrix CL, recommended for the East/West, are also on 93%.

2023–26 averages

Four-year averages are a better indicator of overall performance. Based on the four-year average values, the highest yielding varieties to date are the newly recommended Dompteur (UK) on 106%, Karat (UK) and LG Adapt (UK) on 105%, followed by newly recommended KWS Domingos (UK) on 104%. LG Academic (UK) and Maverick (E/W) are both on 103%.

Of the conventional varieties, the newly recommended Bachus (UK) is highest yielding on 97%. Pi Pinnacle (UK) and Tom (UK) are just behind on 96%, with Powerhouse (N) and Annika (E/W) on 93%.

Crusoe (UK) is the highest yielding clubroot resistant variety on 98%, followed by the newly recommended Crios (N) and Cromputer (UK) on 96%.

The newly recommended LG Calvin CL (UK) is the highest yielding herbicide-tolerant variety on 93%, followed by Beatrix CL (E/W) on 92% and Matrix CL (UK) on 91%.

Candidate varieties

Data can only be shown for candidate varieties that have been added to the GB and NI Variety List (VL).

The highest‑yielding hybrid candidate so far is RGT Eros at 108%, performing slightly ahead of this in the 2026 trials seen to date. Montana is on 106% but appears to be outperforming that average in 2026 at 108%. Valdez sits at 105%, with early 2026 results also indicating an uplift to 107%. KWS Volcanos is currently on 103% with Daymon on 102%.

The conventional candidate Ocean is on 97% with its performance in 2026 just slightly behind on 96%.

Of the clubroot-resistant candidates, Crown is performing the best on 103% with its performance just slightly behind this for 2026 at 102%. Crombach is on 102%, performing in-line with this in 2026 trials so far. Crafter sits at 101% but is outperforming this average so far in 2026 at 105%. KWS Kremos is on 90%.

A note of caution

Results from individual trial sites should not be used to make conclusions on variety performance. This is especially true for winter oilseed rape, as performance tends to be more variable both within and between trials than for cereals.

The final RL is based on results from UK trials over four seasons and this provides the best indication of variety performance.

Further information

Access full trial results via the AHDB website: ahdb.org.uk/harvestresults

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