New winter wheat initiatives to add value to RL and RB209 data

Two exciting new winter wheat initiatives will get under way later this year, following funding approval by the AHDB Cereal & Oilseeds Sector Council at its March 2025 meeting.

One initiative will generate data on variety blends and the other will set up nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) demonstration trials.

Levy payers identified the need for the work in the most recent reviews of the Recommended List for cereals and oilseeds (RL) and the AHDB Nutrient Management Guide (RB209), as well as via the research ideas letterbox.

Jenna Watts, who leads the crop health and IPM team at AHDB, said:

“By listening to levy-payer priorities, the R&KE Committee identifies the most pressing investment areas. The sector council has now given the green light to the latest initiatives, which cover variety blends and NUE.

"These initiatives will add significant value to our core research, most notably the RL and RB209 projects. Our team will now take the projects to the next step, which will see the first winter wheat plots drilled this autumn.”

Varietal mixtures increase a field’s genetic diversity and may help slow the spread of some diseases and reduce the risk of resistance breakdown.

Our winter wheat variety blend tool, which is based on variety-specific RL data and parental diversity information, can help identify three-way or four-way mixes for on-farm testing. We updated the tool last month.

Currently, we do not test variety blends in RL trials. As each blend involves numerous unique genetic and environmental interactions, there is an appetite for more trial-based information.

This initiative will grow hard winter wheat variety blends in three trials over four years. The performance of each blend will be assessed under two fungicide programme intensities (robust and reduced).

Trial results will help validate the current variety blend tool. The work will also promote discussion on the approach, including quality implications and the potential to roll out the tool to cover other cereal crops.

Estimated cost: up to £300,000 (including VAT).

Estimated duration: 48 months.

Production cost pressures mean that it is increasingly important to make every gram of nutrient pay for itself (in terms of yield and quality). Understandably, levy payers ask us to invest in ways to improve nutrient use efficiency.

Although there are many routes to achieve this, the quickest wins are about adapting readily available information (such as from the RL and RB209) for use in a wide range of farming situations.

This initiative will establish the potential to set up winter wheat demonstration trials (featuring several varieties) that test nitrogen at various rates, including comparisons of soil-applied versus foliar-applied nitrogen.

The demonstration sites will promote debate about the critical role of good agronomic practice in improving NUE.

The recent RL review found that current commercial varieties do not vary greatly in their NUE.

Beyond this initiative, we will continue to work with the industry to identify ways to measure NUE and track traits through the variety pipeline.

We will also continue to collaborate with others to examine ways to improve RB209 guidance and its implementation.

Estimated cost: up to £11,500 (including VAT).

Estimated duration: 17 months.

The AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Sector Council set up the farmer-led R&KE Committee in 2024 to help commission one-off projects that supplement its core, long-term research.

The committee identifies, develops, reviews, implements and evaluates independent activities that meet levy-payer needs and offer a sufficient return on investment.

It has already secured investment in several new activities, including:

1. Cover crop champions (evidence-based case studies)
2. Cover crops: nutrient release (desk study)
3. Cover crops: destruction approaches and soil health impacts (scoping review)
4. Updating ergot management guidelines
5. Assessment of key crop physiology traits in cereals (including vigour)
6. Improving BYDV management tools for winter cereals
7. Biopesticide efficacy trials in winter wheat*

*Published last week (21 March 2025), the UK Pesticides National Action Plan 2025 recognises the importance of developing biopesticides that reduce the overall risks of pesticide use. Biopesticides can be more difficult to use than traditional chemistry, with numerous environmental factors affecting efficacy. We will issue a research call for the biopesticide efficacy trials later this spring, with the first trials potentially being drilled as early as autumn 2025.

Other topics discussed at the most recent round of meetings included:

• Impact of cover crops on weed management
• Cabbage stem flea beetle management in oilseed rape (next phase of research)

These projects are at an early stage of development. We will provide an update on progress after the next round of meetings (summer 2025).

The research ideas web page provides further information, including:

• How AHDB invests in R&KE activities
• How to submit an idea for investment
• Projects commissioned to date