Another three varieties have joined the Group 3 line-up for this year, but that’s no guarantee of success in a sector still dominated by older choices and suffering from the feed wheat frenzy, according to the seed trade.

KWS Target, Cocoon and Tuxedo bring a range of attributes to the table, but none quite fulfil all of the requirements – distilling, biscuit making and export – that are needed to give a soft wheat universal appeal.

KWS Target isn’t suitable for distilling, says James Brosnan of the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, who goes on to describe Cocoon’s alcohol yield as appalling.

Tuxedo, however, gets a medium rating for distilling. “It’s in the same league as Invicta when it comes to distilling.”

All of the newcomers meet biscuit-making tests, but miller preferences and some variability mean that they won’t all get used widely, says Mark Charlton of Allied Mills. “It’s a very diverse classification and there are two established choices, Scout and Claire, which are hard to beat.”

Scout has about 5% of the market, reports Lee Bennett of Openfield. “It’s a good variety, with excellent disease ratings and orange wheat blossom midge resistance. It can be sown early, makes a good second wheat and has yielded better on farm than its RL figure suggests.”

It is a bit shy on tillers, he notes. “It’s worth upping the seed rate by about 10% to take account of this. Like Claire, it’s at the top end of the quality spectrum and it is a preferred choice for export.”

Last year’s arrival, Invicta, has been slower to sell than expected, he notes. “Whether it’s because it isn’t resistant to orange wheat blossom midge after all, or because it’s too late for some areas, I’m not sure. It just hasn’t captured farmers’ imaginations.”

That view is echoed by David Waite northern commercial seed manager for Frontier. “Remember that a variety which is one day later on the Recommended List turns out to be two days later on farm.”

Warrior, which came along at the same time as Invicta, has a specific weight weakness, so is not suitable for either distilling or export, he adds.

Mr Bennett’s comparison of Tuxedo and KWS Target is straightforward. “KWS Target has orange wheat blossom midge resistance, a lower Hagberg and isn’t a good second wheat. Tuxedo is a bit stronger on disease and makes a good second wheat, but it doesn’t have midge resistance.”

Group 3 candidates

Waiting in the wings are four candidate biscuit-making varieties: Torch from RAGT, Delphi and Monterey from Senova and SY Epson from Syngenta.

Torch leads the field with a yield of 104% of the control and the early support of ADM Milling with a buy-back contract, but is showing very poor resistance to yellow rust at some trial sites this year. “It’s a great shame, because it’s otherwise looking very good,” says Clare Leaman of NIAB TAG.

Delphi and Monterey, both of which were bred by Blackman Agriculture, are very different agronomic types, but have all-important nine ratings for yellow rust.

“Monterey is taller and has orange wheat blossom midge resistance and an excellent specific weight,” says variety consultant Mike Jeffes. “Delphi is short and stiff, a bit later, but also has midge resistance. It has a good Hagberg too.”

SY Epson is described by Syngenta as having good grain quality and export market potential. It also features good resistance to septoria tritici and orange wheat blossom midge, but it’s still unclear whether it meets the requirements of the biscuit market.