Last week the Department of Agriculture published the 2015 recommend lists for winter cereals. They all have new provisionally recommended varieties – two wheats (Leeds and Weaver), one barley (KWS Tower) and one true winter oat variety (Vodka).

At field level there were not massive differences between varieties in what was a good harvest. There were a few noteworthy performan-ces in that Grafton appeared to have an excellent year, especially in some continuous wheat slots, and very few growers would have found a 3% yield advantage from Avatar over JB Diego.

The clear lesson was the benefit of good establishment and full crops. The challenge now is to hold back on very early planting of wheat due to the threat from septoria resistance to SDHIs. If you are planting wheat in September, stay with varieties with high septoria resistance, which are scarce on the recommended list. SY Epson is the only variety with a seven for septoria resistance but it is being discontinued due to lack of grower interest last season when seed was available.

In winter barley many growers did not find any major yield benefit from six-row types over two-row types this year. But the three-year average shows six-row types to have an advantage.

Low price is the major challenge to crop profitability this year. Production costs continue to increase so not planting must be seriously considered where yield potential is limited. We cannot afford the risk of a poor crop with current day costs.

Two new winter wheats

The 2015 winter wheat recommended list sees Dunmore and Lumos fully recommended while Lion has been dropped.

Avatar and Weaver share top spot for yield but Diego, Leeds and Lumos are not far behind.

Full details of the recommended wheats are shown in Table 1.

Despite 2014 producing very high quality grain, the specific weight values in Table 1 are relatively low.

This is a consequence of the poor quality in 2012 as these values still form part of the three-year average for the list.

On the new list, wheat specific weights vary from 71.3 (Dunmore) to 74.2KPH (Cordiale) while these same varieties were 75.4 and 77.5KPH, respectively, in 2014.

Septoria resistance needs to feature more strongly in variety evaluation and two new varieties, Rockefeller and LGW87, are worth watching in this regard.

Recommended varieties

The recommended winter wheat varieties are shown in Table 1. The time has come to pay more heed to variety vulnerabilities, as well as their yield potential. So resistance to diseases, lodging and ear blight should be afforded greater importance in variety choice.

AVATAR: Shows very high yield on paper, but this is being helped by good relative performance in 2012. Straw strength (resistance to lodging) has been raised one point this year despite its moderately long straw. It has good resistance to straw breakdown. It is regarded as later maturing than most other varieties. It is moderately susceptible to mildew and Septoria spp (down a point), moderately resistant to ear blight and has good resistance to yellow rust. It is moderately susceptible to sprouting. It is a feed variety with average seed size and average hectolitre weight.

Breeder: Limagrain, UK.

Agent: Goldcrop.

Parentage: (Istabraq x Lion).

CORDIALE: Yield rating is back one point on last year. It has very short straw with very good resistance to lodging but only moderate resistance to straw breakdown. It is very early maturing and has good resistance to sprouting. It is moderately resistant to mildew and ear blight, has good resistance to yellow rust but is susceptible to Septoria spp. Grain size is small but it has good specific weight. It is a potential milling variety.

Breeder: CPB Twyford Ltd, UK.

Agent: Goldcrop.

Parentage: (Reaper x Cadenza) x Malacca.

DUNMORE: Now fully recommended. Yield is down a point on last year. Straw is moderately long but it is regarded as having moderate susceptibility to lodging. It is moderately late maturing. It has moderate resistance to septoria, mildew, yellow rust, ear blight and sprouting. It is a feed variety with relatively good hectolitre weight. Department trials suggest that this variety favours first wheat slots.

Breeder: Limagrain, UK.

Agent: Seedtech.

Parentage: (Lion x Alchemy).

EINSTEIN: Down two yield points on last year. It has moderately short straw, good resistance to lodging and is very resistant to straw breakdown. It is early maturing. It has moderate resistance to mildew and ear blight but is susceptible to septoria. It has good resistance to yellow rust and sprouting. It has big grain with good specific weight. It has moderate bread-making quality.

Breeder: Nickerson, UK.

Agent: Seedtech

Parentage: (NSL WW 91/1670 x NSL WW 90/1282).

JB DIEGO: Yield is back two points on last year. Straw is moderately short and is moderately resistant to lodging with good resistance to straw breakdown. It is moderately early maturing. It has good resistance to yellow rust and sprouting, it is moderately resistant to mildew and ear blight but is now only moderately susceptible to Septoria spp (down a point). A feed variety with big seed and good hectolitre weight.

Breeder: Breun, Germany.

Agent: Germinal Seeds.

Parentage: (3351b1 x Stru2374).

KWS LUMOS: Now fully recommended. Yield is down one point on last year. It has short and very strong straw with good resistance to straw breakdown. It has good resistance to mildew and yellow rust but is now moderately susceptible to Septoria spp and ear blight. It is moderately early maturing. It has small grain but with good specific weight.

Breeder: KWS UK.

Agent: Goldcrop Ltd.

Parentage: (Cordiale x Dover).

SY EPSON: Yield is down a point on last year. It is tallish but has very strong straw and good resistance to straw breakdown. It is medium maturing. It has good resistance to mildew, septoria and yellow rust and moderate resistance to ear blight. But it is moderately susceptible to sprouting. It is a feed variety with average seed size and hectolitre weight. Despite its good septoria resistance, there is no seed being multiplied. Seems to favour first wheat slots.

Breeder: Syngenta, UK.

Agent: Seedtech.

Parentage: (Zebedee x Robigus).

LEEDS: An English name but a French variety. Leeds has high yield potential with moderately short and very strong straw. It also has good resistance to straw breakdown. It has very good resistance to yellow rust but is very susceptible to mildew, susceptible to Septoria spp and has moderate resistance to ear blight. It is late maturing with moderate susceptibility to sprouting. A feed variety with small seed and generally good specific weight

Breeder: Momont, France.

Agent: Seedtech.

Parentage: (Istabraq x Robigus).

WEAVER: Has very high yield potential but straw is moderately long with moderate lodging susceptibility and only moderate resistance to straw breakdown. It is moderately susceptible to Septoria spp and ear blight, moderately resistant to mildew and sprouting and has good resistance to yellow rust. Moderately susceptible to sprouting. It is feed quality with big grains and relatively good hectolitre weight. Favours first wheat slots.

Breeder: Elsom seeds, UK.

Agent: Germinal Seeds.

Parentage: Welford x (Consort x Claire).

Volume stays top of winter barley list

Volume remains the top yielder on the winter barley list despite not having its best year in 2014. There is one new two-row variety provisionally recommended for 2015 – KWS Tower.

Winter barley had a good year again in 2014 with the average yield of the control varieties at 9.5t/ha. Winter barley area may benefit from crop diversification.

Details of the recommended varieties are shown in Table 2. It is worth noting that specific weights are down relative to last year, as are thousand-grain weights.

The varieties

KWS CASSIA: Relative yield is down two points on last year. It is moderately early maturing and has excellent quality, with big bold grain and very high specific weight. Straw is short and stiff with moderate resistance to breakdown. It is now regarded as susceptible to rhyncho (down a point), moderately susceptible to mildew and has good resistance to brown rust and net blotch.

Breeder: KWS UK.

Agent: Goldcrop Ltd.

Parentage: (Eden x Carat) x Saffron.

LEIBNIZ: Relative yield is down three points. This six-row variety has long straw with good resistance to lodging but is susceptible to straw breakdown (down a point). It is moderately early maturing. Leibniz is moderately resistant to mildew, has good resistance to rhyncho and net blotch but it is very susceptible to brown rust (down a point). Seed size is on the low side, as is hectolitre weight.

Breeder: KWS Lochow GMBH.

Agent: Seedtech Ltd.

Parentage: (LP 6-936 x BCym 5).

SAFFRON: Relative yield is down one point. It is moderately late maturing with short very strong straw plus good resistance to straw breakdown. It is susceptible to mildew and rhyncho but has good resistance to brown rust and net blotch. It has big grain and very good specific weight.

Breeder: C.P.B. Twyford Ltd.

Agent: Goldcrop Ltd.

Parentage: (Antigua x Tabatha).

VOLUME: This hybrid six-row is back four points on last year at 109%. It has long straw with only moderate resistance to lodging and is susceptible to straw breakdown. It is moderately resistant to mildew and brown rust but has good resistance to rhyncho and net blotch. Specific weight is good but grain size is very small.

Breeder: Syngenta Seeds Ltd.

Agent: Seedtech Ltd.

Parentage: F1 Hybrid.

KWS TOWER: This new two-row has high yield potential with short straw, good resistance to lodging and moderate resistance to straw breakdown. It is moderately resistant to mildew, rhyncho, brown rust and net blotch. It has very large grain with good specific weight.

Breeder: KWS UK.

Agent: Goldcrop Ltd.

Parentage: Saffron x Retriever.

A true winter oat option

This is the first time in many years that there is a true winter type on the oat list. The variety Vodka has been added to Barra and Husky. Details of all three recommended varieties are shown in Table 3.

The varieties

BARRA: This long serving oat variety continues to perform at farm level but it is being superseded. Straw is moderately short but it is susceptible to lodging and straw breakdown. It is moderately late maturing. It is very susceptible to mildew and susceptible to crown rust. It has very high specific weight and kernel content.

Breeder: Svalöf Weibull AB.

Agent: Goldcrop Ltd.

Parentage: (Selma x KM1 MS).

HUSKY: Has very high yield potential with relatively short stiff straw but it is moderately susceptible to straw breakdown. Grain quality is excellent. It has moderate resistance to mildew but it is susceptible to crown rust. It is early maturing and has better winter hardiness than Barra.

Breeder: Nordsaat, Germany.

Agent: Seedtech Ltd.

Parentage: (CPBT SOI x Freddy).

VODKA: A new provisionally recommended true winter type. It is French bred with good yield potential but it is late maturing. Straw is very short with moderate resistance to lodging and good resistance to straw breakdown. It is moderately resistant to mildew and crown rust. Specific weight is lower than the spring types.

Breeder: Momont, France.

Agent: Seedtech Ltd.

Parentage: (MHAC 2.3 x MH822)