NEWER BARLEY varieties are more tolerant of leaf spotting caused by ramularia and environmental stress, SAC HGCA-funded work suggests.

 Simon Oxley, who has been rating green leaf area losses in Scottish Recommended List trials, has noticed that Westminster, Decanter, Power and Riviera show less spotting than Prestige and Troon, Optic being moderately affected.

His observations could help growers, especially in Scotland and Ireland where the condition occurs every year and can trim yields by more than 0.5t/ha (4cwt/acre).