Minimal change is how one might summarise the winter wheat and oat recommended lists, following no change to winter barley. There is one new wheat recommended, SY Insitor, and there are no additions to the winter oat list.
Bennington has been dropped from the wheat list.
Variety performance on farm was once again difficult to gauge in 2020, with winter damage and drought affecting to different degrees in different places. This is why our recommended lists are so important, as they attempt to iron out the environmental variations to give real inter-variety comparison across several sites.
Having a mix of varieties remains an important consideration across any sizable crop area. Then varieties need to be mixed and matched to balance yield potential, disease resistance, straw characteristics and grain quality.
While yield performance remains very important, growers must also consider the limited proven suitability for different sowing dates and rotational slots.
Having a spread on maturity dates seems to be increasingly important, as harvest weather appears to be increasingly unpredictable. Sprouting risk must always be considered also and that was a real concern with Bennington.
Straw characteristics have always been considered, with brackling or straw breakdown having become increasingly important in recent decades.
Yet another straw issue became a problem in 2020 when several crops suffered significant head loss, as very stiff stems, combined with storms, caused heads to be shaken off standing crops.
Head loss was more typically an issue in barley historically, but now it must be watched in wheat also, even though we might never see it again.
Similar problems occurred in some oat crops where there were issues with spikelets being blown off the panicle, again by the wind.
As we gain years of experience with the performance of individual varieties, it strikes me that a useful addition to each variety’s characteristics would be its relative robustness across sites and over time.
In some ways, this is displayed in the relative yield performance from year to year, but some varieties are bankers and some are more fussy and it would be a useful addition if it were possible.
Winter wheat:
one in, one out
The 2021 winter wheat list sees SY Insitor come in with provisional recommendation and Bennington has been removed. However, there will be an amount of seed of Bennington available for planting.
Also, KWS Conros moved from provisionally recommended to fully recommended.
There are six varieties recommended and details are shown in Table 1.
While 2020 was a generally low disease pressure year, there was good disease pressure in places to enable good assessments which have resulted in altered ratings against some diseases for some varieties.
The varieties
COSTELLO: seems to be a very solid variety. Straw is short and strong, but resistance to lodging is down one point, with good resistance to straw breakdown. It has very good resistance to mildew, yellow rust and sprouting and good resistance to ear blight. It is moderately susceptible to septoria. It is moderately early maturing and has excellent hectolitre weight. Handled here by Goldcrop, it is a KWS variety from a CPBTW151-CPBT W134 cross.GRAHAM: now fully recommended with very high yield potential, but it is down a point on last year. It has good resistance to lodging, but straw breakdown has been pulled back to five from seven last year. It has very good resistance to mildew, good resistance to yellow rust and moderate resistance to septoria. It is moderately susceptible to fusarium ear blight (down two points). Its rating on sprouting is down one point on last year. It has big grain and good hectolitre weight. Handled here by Seedtech, it is a Syngenta variety from a Premio-Expert cross.JB DIEGO: yield continues to slip after 10 years on the list and it is now at 97, back two points on last year. Straw has moderate resistance to lodging, but good resistance to straw breakdown. It has moderate resistance to sprouting, moderate resistance to mildew and ear blight, but is susceptible to septoria and yellow rust. It has big grain, with good hectolitre weight. It seems to perform well on continuous sites. It is moderately early maturing. Handled here by Germinal Ireland, it is a Breun variety from a 3351b1-Stru2374 cross.KWS CONROS: now fully recommended with a very good combination of traits. Its relative yield remains at 98 and it has very good resistance to lodging and straw breakdown. It is moderately late maturing. It has very good resistance to mildew and yellow rust, is moderately susceptible to septoria and susceptible to fusarium (down two points). It has good resistance to sprouting. Seed size is small, but hectolitre weight is good. Handled here by Goldcrop, it is a KWS variety from a Skalmeje-CPBT W134 cross.TORP: yield is back a point again this year in this late-maturing variety. Straw has good resistance to lodging and moderate resistance to breakdown. It has good resistance to septoria and moderate resistance to sprouting, but it is moderately susceptible to mildew and yellow rust and susceptible to fusarium. It has big seed, but hectolitre weight is on the low side. Handled here by Drummonds, it was bred by Nordic Seeds and is an Ambition-Symbol cross.SY INSITOR: a new provisionally recommended high-yielding and moderately early-maturing variety. Straw is tallish, with good resistance to lodging and moderate resistance to straw breakdown. It has good resistance to mildew and yellow rust and moderate resistance to fusarium. It is moderately susceptible to septoria and susceptible to sprouting. Hectolitre weight is good. Handled here by Seedtech, it was bred by Syngenta and is a Hereford-AB111-1011 cross.Oat varieties: same
six recommended
Details of the six recommended varieties are shown in Table 2.
The varieties
BARRA: yield has improved this year from 94 to 95, leaving it 10 points adrift of Husky. Straw is tall and it is susceptible to lodging and straw breakdown. It is moderately late maturing and is very susceptible to mildew and susceptible to crown rust. It has very high specific weight and kernel content handled by Goldcrop. It was bred by SW Seeds AB from a Selma-KM1 MS cross.DELFIN: high-yielding but back a
point on last year. It is moderately early maturing and has good resistance to lodging, but is moderately susceptible to straw breakdown. Delfin is a yellow oat with good grain quality. It has very good resistance to mildew, but it is susceptible to crown rust. It is handled here by Seedtech.HUSKY: high yielding, but it is down a point on last year. Straw is relatively short and stiff, but it is moderately susceptible to straw breakdown. It is very early maturing and grain quality is good. It is moderately susceptible to mildew and susceptible to crown rust. Good specific weight. It is handled by Seedtech.KEELY: good yield potential – similar to last year. It is early maturing with short straw, but is moderately susceptible to lodging and susceptible to straw breakdown. It has very good grain quality, but it is moderately susceptible to mildew and susceptible to crown rust. Keely is handled here by Goldcrop.RGT SOUTHWARK: a late-maturing winter-type variety with tall weak straw which is susceptible to lodging and breakdown. It is untypical, in that its relative yield is up five points on last year. It has good kernel content and good hectolitre weight. Very good resistance to crown rust, but is susceptible to mildew. It is handled by Goldcrop.WPB ISABEL: now fully recommended and its relative yield is up two points. It is moderately late-maturing, with straw that has good resistance to lodging and straw breakdown (down a point). It is moderately resistant to crown rust and moderately susceptible to mildew. Grain quality is excellent with very good kernel content and hectolitre weight. Handled by Goldcrop, it was bred by Wiersum from a LW 03E038-06-Husky cross.In short
One new variety, ST Insitor, has come on to the wheat list and Bennington has been removed. The recommended oat varieties remain the same as last year. Many varieties have received altered ratings for yield and agronomic characteristics.
Minimal change is how one might summarise the winter wheat and oat recommended lists, following no change to winter barley. There is one new wheat recommended, SY Insitor, and there are no additions to the winter oat list.
Bennington has been dropped from the wheat list.
Variety performance on farm was once again difficult to gauge in 2020, with winter damage and drought affecting to different degrees in different places. This is why our recommended lists are so important, as they attempt to iron out the environmental variations to give real inter-variety comparison across several sites.
Having a mix of varieties remains an important consideration across any sizable crop area. Then varieties need to be mixed and matched to balance yield potential, disease resistance, straw characteristics and grain quality.
While yield performance remains very important, growers must also consider the limited proven suitability for different sowing dates and rotational slots.
Having a spread on maturity dates seems to be increasingly important, as harvest weather appears to be increasingly unpredictable. Sprouting risk must always be considered also and that was a real concern with Bennington.
Straw characteristics have always been considered, with brackling or straw breakdown having become increasingly important in recent decades.
Yet another straw issue became a problem in 2020 when several crops suffered significant head loss, as very stiff stems, combined with storms, caused heads to be shaken off standing crops.
Head loss was more typically an issue in barley historically, but now it must be watched in wheat also, even though we might never see it again.
Similar problems occurred in some oat crops where there were issues with spikelets being blown off the panicle, again by the wind.
As we gain years of experience with the performance of individual varieties, it strikes me that a useful addition to each variety’s characteristics would be its relative robustness across sites and over time.
In some ways, this is displayed in the relative yield performance from year to year, but some varieties are bankers and some are more fussy and it would be a useful addition if it were possible.
Winter wheat:
one in, one out
The 2021 winter wheat list sees SY Insitor come in with provisional recommendation and Bennington has been removed. However, there will be an amount of seed of Bennington available for planting.
Also, KWS Conros moved from provisionally recommended to fully recommended.
There are six varieties recommended and details are shown in Table 1.
While 2020 was a generally low disease pressure year, there was good disease pressure in places to enable good assessments which have resulted in altered ratings against some diseases for some varieties.
The varieties
COSTELLO: seems to be a very solid variety. Straw is short and strong, but resistance to lodging is down one point, with good resistance to straw breakdown. It has very good resistance to mildew, yellow rust and sprouting and good resistance to ear blight. It is moderately susceptible to septoria. It is moderately early maturing and has excellent hectolitre weight. Handled here by Goldcrop, it is a KWS variety from a CPBTW151-CPBT W134 cross.GRAHAM: now fully recommended with very high yield potential, but it is down a point on last year. It has good resistance to lodging, but straw breakdown has been pulled back to five from seven last year. It has very good resistance to mildew, good resistance to yellow rust and moderate resistance to septoria. It is moderately susceptible to fusarium ear blight (down two points). Its rating on sprouting is down one point on last year. It has big grain and good hectolitre weight. Handled here by Seedtech, it is a Syngenta variety from a Premio-Expert cross.JB DIEGO: yield continues to slip after 10 years on the list and it is now at 97, back two points on last year. Straw has moderate resistance to lodging, but good resistance to straw breakdown. It has moderate resistance to sprouting, moderate resistance to mildew and ear blight, but is susceptible to septoria and yellow rust. It has big grain, with good hectolitre weight. It seems to perform well on continuous sites. It is moderately early maturing. Handled here by Germinal Ireland, it is a Breun variety from a 3351b1-Stru2374 cross.KWS CONROS: now fully recommended with a very good combination of traits. Its relative yield remains at 98 and it has very good resistance to lodging and straw breakdown. It is moderately late maturing. It has very good resistance to mildew and yellow rust, is moderately susceptible to septoria and susceptible to fusarium (down two points). It has good resistance to sprouting. Seed size is small, but hectolitre weight is good. Handled here by Goldcrop, it is a KWS variety from a Skalmeje-CPBT W134 cross.TORP: yield is back a point again this year in this late-maturing variety. Straw has good resistance to lodging and moderate resistance to breakdown. It has good resistance to septoria and moderate resistance to sprouting, but it is moderately susceptible to mildew and yellow rust and susceptible to fusarium. It has big seed, but hectolitre weight is on the low side. Handled here by Drummonds, it was bred by Nordic Seeds and is an Ambition-Symbol cross.SY INSITOR: a new provisionally recommended high-yielding and moderately early-maturing variety. Straw is tallish, with good resistance to lodging and moderate resistance to straw breakdown. It has good resistance to mildew and yellow rust and moderate resistance to fusarium. It is moderately susceptible to septoria and susceptible to sprouting. Hectolitre weight is good. Handled here by Seedtech, it was bred by Syngenta and is a Hereford-AB111-1011 cross.Oat varieties: same
six recommended
Details of the six recommended varieties are shown in Table 2.
The varieties
BARRA: yield has improved this year from 94 to 95, leaving it 10 points adrift of Husky. Straw is tall and it is susceptible to lodging and straw breakdown. It is moderately late maturing and is very susceptible to mildew and susceptible to crown rust. It has very high specific weight and kernel content handled by Goldcrop. It was bred by SW Seeds AB from a Selma-KM1 MS cross.DELFIN: high-yielding but back a
point on last year. It is moderately early maturing and has good resistance to lodging, but is moderately susceptible to straw breakdown. Delfin is a yellow oat with good grain quality. It has very good resistance to mildew, but it is susceptible to crown rust. It is handled here by Seedtech.HUSKY: high yielding, but it is down a point on last year. Straw is relatively short and stiff, but it is moderately susceptible to straw breakdown. It is very early maturing and grain quality is good. It is moderately susceptible to mildew and susceptible to crown rust. Good specific weight. It is handled by Seedtech.KEELY: good yield potential – similar to last year. It is early maturing with short straw, but is moderately susceptible to lodging and susceptible to straw breakdown. It has very good grain quality, but it is moderately susceptible to mildew and susceptible to crown rust. Keely is handled here by Goldcrop.RGT SOUTHWARK: a late-maturing winter-type variety with tall weak straw which is susceptible to lodging and breakdown. It is untypical, in that its relative yield is up five points on last year. It has good kernel content and good hectolitre weight. Very good resistance to crown rust, but is susceptible to mildew. It is handled by Goldcrop.WPB ISABEL: now fully recommended and its relative yield is up two points. It is moderately late-maturing, with straw that has good resistance to lodging and straw breakdown (down a point). It is moderately resistant to crown rust and moderately susceptible to mildew. Grain quality is excellent with very good kernel content and hectolitre weight. Handled by Goldcrop, it was bred by Wiersum from a LW 03E038-06-Husky cross.In short
One new variety, ST Insitor, has come on to the wheat list and Bennington has been removed. The recommended oat varieties remain the same as last year. Many varieties have received altered ratings for yield and agronomic characteristics. 
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