Two new winter wheat varieties Vibe and Scope are set to break into the top six best-selling varieties, helped by their high yields and grain quality, and as they have escaped the worst effects of a new race of yellow rust.

Vibe is a new breadmaking Group 1 winter wheat with a higher protein than Crusoe, while Scope is the new highest yielding feed wheat on the AHDB’s Recommended List (RL), both from plant breeders KWS.

See also: Norfolk grower’s verdict on new high-protein milling wheat Vibe

KWS’s product manager for wheat, Olivia Bacon, expects Vibe to take 6% of the certified wheat seed market for autumn 2025 drilling, rising to 10% the following year, and Scope to take 6.5% rising to 10-11%.

This would put them fifth and sixth in the market after an unchanged top three of Dawsum, Champion and Beowulf from autumn 2024 drillings, with biscuit-making wheat Bamford very close behind in fourth spot.

Yellow rust

Although a new race of yellow rust has been detected which has overcome the Yr15 yellow rust resistance gene, Olivia says Vibe has been unaffected and Scope has only seen moderate levels of yellow rust this season.

The AHDB has highlighted that hard-milling Group 4 varieties Dawsum, Champion and Typhoon all have the Yr15 gene, but the effect of this gene being overcome is still being assessed.

The new race appears to affect largely Group 4 hard-milling wheat varieties which have juvenile yellow rust resistance.

Those with young plant yellow rust resistance among the Group 4 hard wheats on the RL include Beowulf, Oxford, Cranium and Costello, as well as Dawsum, Champion and Typhoon.

“Both Vibe and Arnie appear to be untouched by the new race of yellow rust,” she tells Farmers Weekly at the Cereals 2025 event at Heath Farm, Leadenham, near Lincoln.

Arnie is KWS’s new Group 2 milling variety which is expected to take share from its popular Extase variety.

It is set to take 5.5% of the wheat seed market and up to 9% for autumn 2026 drillings.

The group’s Dawsum is set to be the leading wheat variety for 2025 drilling with a 10% market share, while Champion, Beowulf and Bamford are likely to be in the 8-9% market share area.

A further KWS wheat variety, Group 3 biscuit-maker Solitaire – and a rival to the successful Bamford – is expected to take a 3.5% share of the market, and up to 5% in autumn 2026.

All these new KWS varieties – Vibe, Arnie, Solitaire and Scope – entered the RL late last year.

KWS Scope wheat variety at Cereals © David Jones

This autumn

Olivia expects UK winter wheat drilling this autumn to be largely similar to last year at just over 1.6m ha.

The 2024 UK harvested wheat crop was down 20% at 11.15m tonnes, with average yields off 10% at 7.3t/ha on a 11% reduced area of 1.53m ha, according to Defra.

The AHDB Early Bird survey put the wheat area for harvest 2025 up 5% at 1.61m ha from the Defra figure of 1.53m ha in 2024.