Hurler and Belter take up 39% of the spring barley seed area in certification for 2027.
LG Mermaid has 16%, Florence has 12% and Geraldine (10%) and SY Amity (9%) follow; see Table 1 (below).
AC Waterfall is the only new variety in seed production and it is only a tiny percentage of area, likely for multiplication.
Half of the varieties in the Department’s recommended list trial have Planet in their parentage.
Goldcrop’s John Dunne noted that Planet is now a parent and a grandparent to many varieties.
Good varieties
Spring barley varieties are in relatively good shape. Some still leave a lot to be desired on straw strength, but in general varieties are keeping growers happy. Hurler, a feed variety, remains on top for relative yield with a score of 102.
Fans of Hurler will have a good opportunity to grow Belter this year. It has moved from 2% of the seed area to 17%.
It is from the same breeder as Hurler and was recently approved in the UK for both brewing and distilling. It rates slightly better on KPH at about 66.9. Spinner is no longer in trial.
Laureate is still tipping away with 5% of the seed, Gretchen has 3% and NOS Lollipop, Rockway and Skway all take up 2% of the seed area for next year’s crop.
In the pipeline
SY Arrow is one to look out for and is being seen as a replacement for Laureate in the coming years. It is being batch malted this year. It has a resistance score of 8 for net blotch and a KPH of 67.4 and matches Florence on straw strength.
Interestingly SY Arrow is a variety that has come from Syngenta to RAGT. RAGT purchased Syngenta’s malting barley breeding programme and all moved over in January of this year. SU Charlotte is another one to look out for, but SY Arrow is closer to market and further along the Department trials.
Fontane is a variety to keep an eye on. In Department trials it had a KPH of 68.1. SY Pendant comes in at 68 as well. Neither are near market.
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