Recommended List winter wheat trials have now all reported and the dataset is complete. Four fungicide-treated and three fungicide-untreated trials have been abandoned mostly due to waterlogging. The average yield of control varieties in the fungicide-treated trials is 10.19 t/ha well below the five-year average of 10.84 t/ha. The average yield of the controls in the fungicide-untreated trials 6.51 t/ha and is also well below the five-year average of 8.57 t/ha, with brown rust and septoria having taken their toll.

Calculating yield results

Yields are represented as a percentage of the control varieties. In 2024 they are Skyfall, KWS Extase, LG Astronomer, LG Skyscraper and Gleam. The yield average from these varieties is represented as 100%.

2024 results

The group 4 (hard) variety Champion is highest yielding in the fungicide-treated trials on 111%, with soft group 4 variety LG Redwald on 110% and the newly recommended UKFM Group 3 variety Bamford on 109%. All above their five-year averages. UKFM Group 2 variety KWS Palladium has performed exceptionally in 2024 and is on 108%, with hard group 4s SY Insitor, Graham and LG Typhoon just behind on 107%, again all above their five-year averages. Other notably good results for 2024 are Mayflower on 105% and KWS Zyatt, on 104%.

The newly recommended varieties UKFM Group 1 variety SY Cheer (95%), soft group 4 Blackstone (101%) and hard group 4 LG Beowulf (104%) are all just 1% below their five-year averages. Newly recommended for the North variety Almara is in contrast 1% above its five-year average on 99%, and has done better in the Scottish trials, yielding 100% or above in all trials.

Popular hard group 4 variety KWS Dawsum has not performed so well in 2024 on 102%, with RGT Bairstow also struggling on 99%. Similarly, Costello (93%), RGT Stokes (94%) and LG Skyscraper (98%) are below their five-year averages in 2024.

In terms of quality, with all results from 2024 in things look mixed, with protein down slightly on 2023, but Hagbergs better and specific weight very similar to 2023 for most varieties.

In the fungicide-untreated trials UKFM Group 2 variety Mayflower stands out on 131% of controls, well ahead of its five-year average of 115% and well ahead of its newly recommended Elsom’s stablemate, UKFM soft Group 3 variety Bamford on 121%. Just behind this are KWS UKFM Group 2 varieties Palladium and Extase, both on 119% and Ultimatum on 117%. Newly recommended for the North, UKFM Group 3 variety Almara is next highest yielding on 112%, with LG Typhoon just behind this on 111%.

Newly recommended UKFM Group 1 variety SY Cheer is highest yielding of the group 1s on 104%, just ahead of KWS Zyatt, on 103%, which is benefitting from the low yellow rust disease pressure this year. In contrast, Crusoe on 73% has suffered from the high brown rust pressure this year.

Some varieties have done very poorly in the fungicide-untreated trials in 2024 compared with their five-year average and while for some, such as LG Skyscraper (91%), this is likely a result lower septoria resistance. For others it is low brown rust resistance, for instance newly recommended LG Beowulf (94%), Champion (102%), KWS Cranium (94%) and SY Insitor (83%).

Five-year averages

The 2024 results show yields based on one season. The five-year average is a better measure of variety performance over seasons.

Group 4 hard variety Champion (107%) is highest yielding on fungicide-treated yield, with newly recommended UKFM Group 3 variety Bamford and soft group 4 variety LG Redwald on 106%. Newly recommended hard group 4 variety LG Beowulf and SY Insitor are on 105%, with hard group 4 variety for the East/West Oxford on 104% and KWS Dawsum, Gleam and Graham on 103%.

In the bread milling wheats, UKFM Group 2s KWS Extase and KWS Ultimatum are on 102% with KWS Palladium on 101% with Mayflower (98%) completing the UKFM Group 2 varieties. Of the UKFM Group 1 varieties KWS Zyatt (100%) is well ahead of Skyfall (97%), with newly recommended SY Cheer on 96% and Crusoe on 95%.

Of the UKFM Group 3 biscuit varieties, RGT Wilkinson (100%) is next highest yielding after Bamford with newly recommended for the North region Almara on 98% along with RGT Rashid, with LG Astronomer on 97%.

The other newly recommended variety, soft group 4 Blackstone is on 102%.

In the fungicide-untreated trials KWS Extase and Mayflower are highest yielding on 115%, followed closely by newly recommended UKFM Group 3 variety Bamford on 114%, KWS Palladium on 113% and KWS Dawsum on 112%.

Newly recommended SY Cheer is showing its value in the UKFM Group 1s on 103%, compared with RGT Illustrious on 102%, Crusoe on 91%, KWS Zyatt on 88% and Skyfall on 81%

Of the other newly recommended varieties North region UKFM Group 3 variety Almara is on 108%, even though none of the trials are in the North region, LG Beowulf is on 108% and Blackstone is on 105%.

2024 Candidates

The five-year averages are the best measure for assessing the candidates potential and suggest likely additions to this year’s RL. Though when they are considered for recommendation their overall balance of features including grain quality, agronomic characteristics and disease resistance will be considered in addition to yield. Data can only be shown for varieties that have completed national Variety Listing.

Potential Bread making varieties

The highest yielding potential bread making variety in fungicide-treated trials is KWS Arnie (106%) with a 2024 yield of 108%. KWS Equipe and KWS Newbie (103%) and LG Shergar (102%) and Diamond (101%) are a little way behind, but all have outyielded their five-year averages in 2024 and don’t seem to have any particular disease weaknesses, though Diamond does seem susceptible to lodging. Diamond also has exceptional fungicide-untreated yield (120%), though KWS Equipe (116%) is not far behind, with Shergar on 110%. RGT Goldfinch is on 89% but its BYDV resistance will be of interest to some growers and it has a fungicide-untreated yield of 106%. (RL trials are treated in the autumn to kill aphids.) Grain quality looks good for all of these, but UKFM will decide on which of these varieties meets the specifications for bread making in time for them to be considered for adding the recommended list in December.

Potential Biscuit making varieties

KWS Solitaire (107%) and KWS Flute (106%) are the standout varieties on fungicide-treated yield. With KWS Solitaire also doing well in fungicide-untreated trials (111%) while KWS Flute is someway behind on 101%. Other varieties in the group are also yielding well, with LG Henri on 104% and 114% in fungicide-untreated trials. Again, UKFM will decide on which of these varieties meets the specifications for Group 3. In the 2024 quality data proteins look acceptable for Group 3. The Hagberg falling number of LG Henri looks a little low, but all have good specific weights for Group 3.

Potential Feed varieties

The hard feed varieties KWS Scope, and Riley (107%) lead the feed varieties on fungicide-treated yield, with KWS Mongoose, LG Rebellion, Roma and Memphis on 106%, with Rufus and SY Monza on 105%. In the fungicide-untreated trials it is LG Rebellion (117%) which is highest yielding of this group, with the others some way behind, Memphs 108%, KWS Scope on 107%, Mongoose 106%, Riley 104%, SY Monza 100% and Rufus well behind on 91%. In terms of grain quality, all have good Hagberg falling numbers, but specific weigh of SY Monza is a little low.

There are just two soft group 4 candidates, RGT Hexton on 105% in fungicide-treated and 101% in untreated trials and KWS Vicarage on 100%, in fungicide-treated and 103% in untreated trials. KWS Vicarage looks to be quite susceptible to septoria, which may explain its poor 2024 performance (95%). Grain quality looks reasonable.

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

Winter wheat (early sown)

Early sown winter wheat RL trials deliver lower yields in 2024

Recommended Lists (RL) Harvest Results for the early sown winter wheat trials (sowing date 25 August–25 September) have been published. One trial remains the be validated.

This sub-set of first wheat trials includes only varieties that breeders consider suitable for early drilling, plus controls. They are grown to the standard RL fungicide and PGR programme.

As early sowing has declined in Southern and Eastern England, largely in response to black-grass pressures, most trials have been moved northwards, where early sowing is still common in commercial practice. This does mean that the results are slightly later to come in. One trial has been retained in Cambridgeshire.

The average yield of the controls in 2024 is 10.29 t/ha, well below the five-year average of 11.28 t/ha. This is likely to be due to disease in the trials, with both the Northumberland and Yorkshire and the Scottish trial in Fife having septoria, despite the robust RL fungicide program.

Calculating yield results

Yields are represented as a percentage of the control varieties. The yield controls for the early sown series are the same as for the main trial series. The varieties for 2024 are Skyfall, KWS Extase, LG Skyscraper, LG Astronomer and Gleam. The yield average from these varieties is represented as 100%.

2024 results

The highest yielding variety in the 2024 series is the hard Group 4 feed variety Champion (117%), just ahead of newly recommended UKFM Group 3 variety Bamford on 116%. Next highest yielding is hard group 4 Graham and UKFM Group 2 Mayflower on 109%, with hard group 4s LG Typhoon and newly recommended LG Beowulf on 108%. All these varieties have good septoria resistance, a useful trait for early sowing, especially this year. UKFM Group 2 KWS Extase and soft group 4 KWS Zealum are just behind these on 107%. All have outperformed their 5-year averages.

Lower down we find the varieties with lower septoria ratings, hard group 4 Gleam (100%), soft group 4s LG Skyscraper and RGT Bairstow, UKFM Group 1 Skyfall (98%) and UKFM Group 3 LG Astronomer (97%). All except Skyfall have underperformed their 5-year averages. Newly recommended group 4 soft variety Blackstone (100%) has not performed well in 2024 in these trials, despite a good septoria rating.

Five-year average

The five-year average is a better measure of variety performance over seasons, particularly given the small number of trials in this early sown series. Champion is again highest yielding (108%), with newly recommended UKFM Group 3 variety Bamford on 107%. There are then a group of varieties on 105%, newly recommended hard group 4 LG Beowulf, KWS Zealum, Oxford and KWS Dawsum. Graham, LG Typhoon, KWS Ultimatum and Gleam are on 103%. Newly recommended group 4 soft variety Blackstone in on 101%.

2024 Candidates

Judging the potential of the candidate varieties for early sown yield is tricky as it is a small dataset. Therefore results should be treated with caution. Again only those candidate varieties that the breeders judge to be suitable for early sowing are included in these trials.

Highest yielding in the five-year dataset are the potential UKFM Group 3 varieties KWS Flute and KWS Solitaire and the hard group 4 variety KWS Mongoose, all on 111%. Just behind these on 110% are soft group 4 variety RGT Hexton and the hard group 4 varieties Memphis and KWS Scope. All yielding higher than any of the current RL varieties in this early sown slot. Hard group 4 variety LG Rebellion and potential UKFM Group 3 variety LG Henri are on 107%.

There are several bread making candidates this year but only LG Shergar has been entered into these early sown trials and it has a yield of 101% in the five-year dataset.