E-Malt.com News article: UK: AHDB releases 2026/2027 recommended lists of cereals and oilseeds

The Agricultural and Horticultural and Development Board (AHDB) has launched its 2026/2027 recommended lists of cereals and oilseeds online.

This comprehensive source of varietal guidance for farmers and agronomists includes a diverse set of cereal and oilseed varieties, with new options for mainstream and relatively niche markets.

With fewer varieties added than removed, the lists are more focused and include numerous varieties with big yield improvements.

For the third consecutive year, a new provisional UK Flour Millers (FM) Group 1 variety has been added to the winter wheat recommended list.

This list also features a strong new distilling soft Group 4 feed variety and several new hard Group 4 varieties. Although some of these Group 4s are very high yielding, some come with agronomic compromises.

The new winter barley list sees just three new varieties added, with more than a quarter of varieties on the list now featuring breeders’ claims for resistance or tolerance to Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV).

The 2026/2027 recommended list also features several new dual-use spring barley recommendations with potential to break into the competitive malting market.

The new winter oilseed rape list sees new recommendations in all categories. The majority have a UK recommendation, with some significant steps forward in yield and disease resistance.

The winter wheat list has eight new varieties, which cover key milling sectors and provide strong steps forward in feed yields.

After stagnating for many years, UKFM Group 1 has been transformed over the last three years.

New addition Arlington from DSV brings the number of new varieties in this group to three in three years.

Arlington has been listed as a provisional Group 1 by UKFM. Its status will be confirmed in the spring after UKFM completes analysis of commercial quantities of harvest 2025 grain.

In small-scale testing over the last three years, the variety has shown good grain and baking quality, with good protein levels recorded.

Arlington is the highest-yielding Group 1 variety in the key East region and it has the second highest fungicide-untreated yield, which is bound to attract interest.

UKFM Group 2 has just one new addition. KWS Grebe has yields just below the best Group 2s, but its chief attraction is likely to be its resistance to orange wheat blossom midge.

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, has been given a Group 1 classification by UKFM due to its very good milling and baking qualities.

Of the new spring wheats, it is the one most likely to stimulate the greatest interest.

After last year’s influx of new varieties to the winter barley list, the 2026/2027 recommended list sees just three new options, with the overall list getting shorter.

Darcie from Senova is a two-row feed variety that has been recommended for the East and West regions.

It is slightly lower yielding but comes with resistance to Barley yellow mosaic virus strain 2 (BaYMV2), one of only three such varieties on the list.

The extent of BaYMV incidence is uncertain, but varietal resistance is the only option where the disease is problematic.

Darcie offers a higher-yielding alternative to the other BaYMV2 resistant varieties on the list.

One new six-row hybrid has been added. SY Barnabus is the highest-yielding, six-row hybrid in both fungicide-treated and untreated trials.

Although its grain quality is good, it is slightly weaker strawed than some of the other six-row hybrids.

LG Catapult is a new two-row feed variety with BYDV tolerance and a high fungicide-treated yield, which closes the gap with the non-BYDV-tolerant two-row feeds. It also has a good fungicide-untreated yield.

However, its resistance to lodging is weaker than some of the other BYDV-tolerant varieties.

The spring barley list has four new varieties, 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.

With the issues resolved and good malting qualities, it has been recommended for the UK. Its status in the Malsters’ Association of Great Britain MAGB testing system is to be reviewed shortly.

One new winter oat variety has been added. Rannoch from Senova has very high yields and, with grain quality similar to Mascani, it may tempt some growers and end users.

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.

New winter oilseed rape recommendations have been made across the categories, giving new options for different situations.

Three new hybrids are recommended for the UK.

Dompteur from DSV is the highest-yielding variety on the new list, in both the East/West and North regions.

It also has resistance ratings of 8 for both light leaf spot and phoma stem canker, as well as having pod shatter and Turnip Yellows Virus (TuYV) resistance.

Karat from NPZU matches Dompteur for yield in the East/West region and has disease resistance ratings of 8 for both light leaf spot and phoma stem canker.

It is moderately resistant to verticillium but is lower yielding in the North region.

KWS Domingos is slightly lower yielding in both regions and has resistance ratings of 7 for light leaf spot and 8 for phoma stem canker.

Bachus, from Jennaway Consulting, is a new conventional variety with a UK recommendation. It has the highest yields in both RL regions for conventional varieties. It has a similar disease resistance package to existing conventional varieties.

LG Clavin CL is a new herbicide-tolerant variety that has been recommended for the UK. It is the highest-yielding variety in both regions and has good light leaf spot resistance for this group, but it is susceptible to verticillium (based on limited data).


05 December, 2025