The winter wheat recommended list was published by the Department of Agriculture last week.

Two new varieties were added to the list - Champion and Fitzroy.

Old favourite JB Diego has left the list, having been on it since 2010.

Champion hits high on yield with a relative yield score of 107, while Fitzroy hits 102.

Septoria resistance is one of the key traits that farmers will be looking out for on the wheat list.

In recent years, there has been a shortage of varieties with good resistance to septoria.

Fitzroy has the highest resistance score for Septoria with a seven. Champion follows on a score of six. Torp also scores a six and its relative yield is 105.

Yellow rust is another important disease. KWS Dawsum and Fitzroy both carry a score of eight for resistance to yellow rust, while Champion scores a seven. KWS Dawsum has the highest resistance to sprouting with a seven.

The varieties are all quite close on protein content. Fitzroy surpasses them all on thousand grain weight, while KWS Dawsum is way ahead on bushel with 78.6 KPH.

When it comes to straw, KWS Dawsum, Fitzroy and Torp score a seven for resistance to lodging, while KWS Dawsum and Fitzroy score a seven for straw breakdown. Graham is the earliest-maturing variety on the list with a score of seven.

Seed

Graham has the biggest seed availability for the coming season, taking up 45% of the area (see Figure 1).

KWS Dawsum has 26% of the seed area, while new variety Champion has 20% of the seed area and Fitzroy has 2% of the seed area.