Four new varieties have been added to the Spring Barley Recommended List (RL), with three under evaluation for both brewing and malt distilling by the Malting Barley Committee (MBC).
Trailblazer from Syngenta offers high treated yields across all regions, with good standing power and grain quality. Roulette from Agrii has a slightly lower fungicide-treated yield but has the highest fungicide-untreated yield on the new list. Shona, from Elsoms Ackermann Barley, has been recommended for the East, where it shows a very high fungicide-treated yield.
Nolan from Senova is the final addition. It was proposed for recommendation in 2024 but was not added to the list due to problems during the GB and NI Variety Lists (VL) assessment stages.
Now resolved and with good malting qualities, it has been recommended for the UK. Its status in the MAGB testing system is being reviewed shortly by the MBC. Because it has had an extra year under test, it may move quickly to provisional approval for malting.
RL manager Paul Gosling points out these varieties may still fail to achieve full MBC approval, so growers should ensure they have a market before committing to such varieties.
Spring oats and wheat
Two spring oat varieties, Jacky and Neptun, both from Saaten Union, have also been added to this list. Jacky is the higher-yielding variety, but Neptun has better grain quality.
The spring wheat list has three new varieties. There are two group 4s, Merkawa from Senova and WPB Clifden from Limagrain, and a new Group 1, Charland from Blackman Agriculture.
Charland is a white wheat, which produces very white flour. It will have several specialist end-uses and, unlike previous white-wheat varieties recommended, it has been given a Group 1 classification by UKFM, because of its very good milling and baking qualities.
