ALL THREE new listed winter wheats are nabim Group 4 varieties. This continues the trend to high yielding feed types, four of last year”s seven RL additions having being Group 4s.

Glasgow, the highest yielder, is breeder Saaten Union”s first wheat listing.

Scottish work shows its soft milling quality is probably suitable for distilling, but it is clearly not a Group 3 type for bread-making, says CEL trials manager Jim McVittie.

Although it sets the new standard for treated output, outyielding Einstein and Robigus by 4%, it has agronomic weaknesses which will need managing, he warns.

“It is susceptible to lodging.” Like Deben, it is probably most suited to later sowing and light soils.

It has a low Hagberg score, and artificial testing suggests that it may be prone to sprouting, he adds.

It has mainly good disease resistance and some blossom midge tolerance, but is susceptible to all common yellow rust races.

Ambrosia, a soft milling wheat from RAGT, matches Istabraq for yield. “The attractiveness of Ambrosia is that it is a very stiff variety,” says Dr McVittie. “After last summer I think a lot of farmers are going to be more interested in lodging resistance.”

It has good brown rust resistance, but is susceptible to Septoria tritici, with a rating of only 4, the minimum now permitted for acceptance to the list. It is also, on limited data, prone to fusarium ear blight. Despite that, its untreated yield is relatively high, suggesting some sort of septoria tolerance, Dr McVittie believes.

Brompton, Elsoms Seeds” hard miller, gets on to the list specially recommended for the dry eastern region or where growers across the UK need its proven genetic resistance to orange blossom midge.

Its “Achilles” heel” is relatively low specific weight – 73.8kg/hl. And yield-wise, it is not quite up with Istabraq and Gladiator across the UK, but is 2-3% above them in the east.

Disease resistance is mainly good, but it is susceptible to mildew. “That puts it in the Claire category, and it”s important that growers realise that,” says Dr McVittie.