The list of approved varieties of winter cereals for the 2018 season has been released by the Department of Agriculture. There is one addition apiece for barley and oats, with two newcomers on the wheat list.

No fewer than 10 wheat varieties feature. Two of last year’s provisionally recommended varieties, Garrus and Costello, have been upgraded to fully recommended. The other, Rockefeller, has been joined on the provisional list by two new varieties, Bennington and Torp. Avatar, KWS Lili and KWS Lumus and JB Diego all remain. Torp has the highest rating for yield potential, while Garrus is rated 101 for yield, although all the varieties are tightly bunched on yield potential. There is one new provisionally recommended winter barley variety for 2018, KWS Kosmos. The six-row variety has similar yield potential to Volume, and similarly scores poorly for straw strength. It is highly disease resistant.

For oats,the two old reliables, Barra and Husky, continue. Last year’s provisionally recommended Vodka is absent, with a new variety, Keely, now provisionally recommended. Barra is in it’s fourth decade of use, having first been included on the list in 1986. Husky is heading into its ninth season on the list.

Planting has started in parts of the country where weather has allowed and fields are cleared. That will increase as we move towards October.