Variety performance in a challenging year (harvest results 2024)

Farmers can get the latest Recommended Lists (RL) variety data for cereals and oilseeds via AHDB’s harvest results. Jason Pole, who manages RL communications, explains the service, which can provide an early indication of variety performance in this challenging year.

The wet autumn and winter challenged commercial crops, with considerable falls in winter cropping recorded in our re-run Early Bird Survey.

Naturally, RL trials are not immune to such pressures. For example, more than 40% of our fungicide-treated and 85% of our fungicide-untreated oilseed rape yield trials have been abandoned this year, with a handful of cereal trials also lost.

Fortunately, the RL publication is based on results from multiple years (five-year and four-year average yields for cereals and oilseed rape, respectively), which provides some resilience. However, increasing weather volatility and establishment challenges (such as cabbage stem flea beetle damage in oilseed rape) are a continuing concern.

As always, results from any single year should be treated with caution (especially in a year like 2024).

The latest harvest results for 2024 will be published on our new-look, crop-focused web pages: ahdb.org.uk/harvest-results.

The RL team will also issue regular commentary to put the results in context. For example, this covers information on the season, unusual results and associated uncertainty.

The web pages already feature information on the trial sites (includes location, soil types and sowing dates) and sowing lists (cites all varieties in trial) for harvest 2024.

Harvest data will be added shortly after each major crop trial is cut, with the first results usually available from mid-to-late July (winter barley).

• Winter wheat
• Spring wheat
• Winter barley
• Spring barley
• Winter oats
• Spring oats
• Winter oilseed rape

For minor crops (described) – spring oilseed rape, spring linseed, winter triticale and winter rye – results will be published after all relevant trial data is available (because of the relatively low number of trials).

For each crop, two harvest results tables are published and updated during the harvest period:

1. Yield tables provide fungicide-treated and untreated yield results.
2. Full harvest results tables provide yield and non-yield results, such as quality, agronomic and disease data.

Prior to release, all data is validated by the RL team to eliminate results that do not meet the RL’s strict quality standards.

Because of trial-to-trial variation, initial results should be treated with caution as they may not represent the bigger picture. As more results are published, certainty usually increases.

Between harvest and the release of the next RL (2025/26, due 25 November 2024), the three RL crop committees and RL board will consider all trial data, follow an agreed process and decide on the fate of each variety.

Subscribers to harvest results receive email alerts about the availability of new RL data and commentary.