Early sown series trials are sown between 25th August and the 14th September
Average yield of the control varieties is 10.26 t/ha which is 0.96 t/ha below the five-year average
Candiate varieties demonstrating good early sown yields

The full set of Recommended Lists (RL) Harvest Results for the early sown winter wheat trials (sowing date 25th August–14th September) has been published.

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 most trials have been moved northwards, where early sowing is still common in commercial practice. One trial has been retained in Cambridgeshire.

The average yield of the controls in 2025 is 10.26 t/ha, well below the five-year average (11.22 t/ha). One trial in Eastern Scotland was abandoned due to a combination of gout fly, weeds and water logging. We have seen increasing prevalence of gout fly in RL trials over the last three years and early sowing is a known risk factor.

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. For 2025 these are Skyfall, KWS Extase, LG Skyscraper, LG Astronomer and Champion. The yield average from these varieties is represented as 100%.

2025 results

The trials in 2025 were affected by both septoria and the new strain of yellow rust, despite the robust RL fungicide programme, which complicates the interpretation of the results. This combined with the small number of trials means that caution must be taken not to over interpret small differences between varieties.

Having said this, the highest yielding variety in the 2025 series is the hard group 4 feed variety KWS Dawsum on 111%, with the newly recommended UKFM Group 3 variety KWS Flute also on 111%. Hard group 4 Graham and newly recommended UKFM Group 3 KWS Solitaire are on 109%, with Bamford on 107%. KWS Dawsum and Graham are well above their five-year averages, but with such a small dataset there will be more volatility in year-to-year yields.

A small number of UKFM Group 2 varieties have been entered into these trials and KWS Ultimatum is highest yielding in 2025 on 108%, well above its five-year average, with KWS Extase and LG Shergar on 103% and Mayflower on 102%.

Of the candidates in these trials, the hard group 4 candidates have done well with KWS Aintree on 114%, LG Challenger on 112% and Hector on 111%.

Potential UKFM Group 1 candidate variety Arlington is on 102%, comfortably ahead of the only other Group 1 in these trials, the control variety Skyfall on 95%. Soft group 4 candidate varieties SY Nairn and Heartwood are lower yielding in these trials at 99% and 100% respectively. While UKFM Group 3 LG Lotus is on 109%.

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. The newly recommended UKFM Group 3 varieties KWS Flute and KWS Solitaire are the highest yielding recommended varieties on 109% and 108% respectively. Champion, newly recommended soft group 4 RGT Hexton and Bamford are all on 106%, with KWS Dawsum and Graham on 104%.

Of the bread milling varieties UKFM Group 2 KWS Ultimatum is highest yielding on 104%, with KWS Extase on 102% and LG Shergar and Mayflower on 101%. The candidate UKFM Group 1 variety Arlington is on 102%, though the final verdict on its UKFM grouping will not be given until samples from harvest 2025 have been tested.

The hard group 4 candidates KWS Aintree and LG Challenger are highest yielding overall on 110%, with the hard group 4 candidate Hector also high yielding on 108%. The soft group 3 candidate LG Lotus is on 107%.

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