Harvest 2015: Winter barley yields up 14%, oilseed rape 10%

Winter barley yields are 14% higher and oilseed rape 10% above long-term averages highlighting the good harvest seen so far as more independent trials are recorded.

Average yields of winter barley reached 10.72t/ha, 1.3t/ha above a five-year average, with the best from Herefordshire and the poorest from Essex in AHDB Recommended List trials.

See also: Harvest 2015: Winter barley 90% harvested in UK, 80% of oilseed rape cut

The data includes 14 sites including two in Scotland, which produced some of the best yields at more than 11t/ha in the Borders and Midlothian

Hybrid six-row varieties did well with Bazooka, Belfry and Volume taking up the top spots for yield, while conventional six-rows Meridian, Daxor and Verity took the next three places.

The six-rows may have performed better during the dry spell of weather in September 2014, while the hybrids tended to do better than the conventional six-rows on specific weight, says the AHDB.

Among the two-rows, the highest yielders were Glacier 101%, Tower 101% and Infinity 100%. Two-row feed candidate varieties Kathmandu 101% and Orwell 101% did well, while the older variety Retriever had a good year performing particularly well in the Scottish Borders and Yorkshire.

AHDB Recommended List winter barley yield trials 2015

 

2015 average

2011-15 average

Bazooka (C)

110

108 

Belfry (C)

107  

106

Volume

107

105

Meridian                                                  

103    

102

Daxor                                                   

103      

103

Verity (C)                                          

103            

103

Retriever                                                   

102  

99

Tower                                

101   

101 

Glacier                                                     

101    

101

Kathmandu (C)                                          

101

101

Orwell (C)                                                  

101

102

Infinity                                                          

100

102

Candidate varieties are noted as (C)

Oilseed rape 

Results from seven oilseed rape trial show a gross output of 5.89t/ha, above a four-year average of 5.35 t/ha, with AHDB’s Lincolnshire site producing the highest gross output of 6.7 t/ha.

In 2015, the highest yielding recommended varieties include Arazzo (106%), Incentive (106%) and Charger (105%), while based on four-year averages, the highest yielding varieties to date are V316OL (107%), Incentive (107%), and Charger (106%).

Of the candidate varieties based on a four-year averages, Elgar, Nikita, Windozz gave gross outputs of 109%, while the turnip yellows virus resistant variety Amalie, a specialist candidate variety, gave a gross output of 100% in four-year average yields.

For the northern region, two trials from Fife and the Borders show strong performances with control varieties yielding 6.28t/ha and 5.47t/ha from the two sites, and with Anastasia (109%) and Campus (108%) showing up well.

Varieties with the highest gross outputs are currently Harnas (111%). Anastasia (110%) Campus (110%) and V316OL (110%) based on four-year average yields.

AHDB Recommended List East/West oilseed rape yield trials 2015

 

2015 average

2011-15 average

Elgar (C)

111

109

Windozz (C)

110

109

Nikita (C)

107

109

Alizze (C)

107

108

Arazzo

106

106 

Incentive

106

107

Wembley (C)

106

108

Campus

105

106

Charger

105

106

Angus (C)

105

106

V316OL

104

107

Einstein (C)

104

107

Candidate varieties are noted as (C)

Winter wheat yields 

Winter wheat yields were down 12% in early AHDB trials, although this is a trend expected to change markedly after a harvest which has seen bumper wheat yields.

Yields averaged 8.9t/ha from two winter wheat trial sites in Lincolnshire and Suffolk compared with a five year average of 9.96t/ha, and breadmaking wheats like Skyfall Trinity and Crusoe performing well.

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