Comparing yields has always been a fun topic down the pub. Discovering that your KWS Santiago has yielded more than the neighbours’ is usually worth some banter and a degree of satisfaction.

But yield comparisons, particularly between varieties, can play a much more important role in helping growers make sound decisions about what to grow next season.

The HGCA’s Recommended List trials will, of course, play a big part in that decision, but comparing variety performance grown in commercial situations with more realistic levels of inputs is also relevant.

This is why Farmers Weekly has developed a winter wheat variety performance comparison tool at www.fwi.co.uk/harvest-highlights/yield-watch.

The tool will allow growers to compare performance between varieties in different Nabim Groups, between regions and individual variety performance across regions.

To create the comparison, growers have to fill in a simple online survey that simply asks for the region in which you farm, an area cut and the average yield for each variety harvested. A single entry within the survey should take less than a minute to create.

Every wheat variety on the current Recommended List, plus selected other varieties, have been included within the survey, which should cover all of the most popular varieties grown on farm this season.

After filling in the survey, which is completely free, growers can select from a range of charts that will compare performance.

The service is available both online and via web-enabled mobile smart phones, such as the Apple iPhone and Android phones.

• Keep abreast of harvest progress in your region at Harvest Highlights.

• See this year’s harvest in pictures at our Harvest Highlights picture gallery.