Key wheat and OSR varieties deliver in mediocre season

The latest batch of AHDB Recommended Lists harvest results are pointing to an average season for wheat yields, while oilseed rape continues to underperform with the shortfall rising to over 0.8t/ha.

Despite this, there are some positives with one of the newly recommended feed wheats performing well in the South West and North, while the top performing oilseed rape is well above this season’s controls at 119%.

Wheat being harvested

© Tim Scrivener/Rex/ Shutterstock

Wheat

For the winter wheat map, three sites have been added in Cornwall, Devon and North Yorkshire, resulting in a small rise in the overall average to 10.7t/ha. This is slightly above the five-year average of 10.61t/ha.

Wheat maps: Check out the top performing varieties in your region

Group 4 hard feed varieties are giving the highest outright yields, with Graham currently top of the yields at 107% and performing strongly in the South West.

AHDB says Graham continues to show its major strength in Septoria tritici resistance in the West, where disease pressures tend to be highest. 

Belgrade is the second highest-yielding variety (105%), with Reflection, KWS Silverstone, KWS Crispin, Evolution, Dickens and KWS Santiago all achieving 103%.

Oilseed rape

This week also saw the first results from northern sites for oilseed rape, Yorkshire up to Aberdeenshire. The yields mirror the trend further south for a poor OSR year.

OSR maps: Check out the top performing varieties in your region

The overall average is now 0.84t/ha below the four-year average, with the best results being found at the Scottish Borders site, which is averaging more than 5t/ha.

Currently the higher-yielding varieties include Explicit (119%), Anastasia (118%), Nikita (117%), V316OL (116%), Exentiel, and Campus (both 115%).

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