The Fane Valley portfolio of winter cereal varieties has been specially selected to help reduce risk on farm, with the key agronomic traits of yield, specific weight, disease and lodging resistance top priorities, providing flexibility for reducing risk across the autumn drilling period.
Winter Barley
With the winter barley harvest completed early and yields of both grain and straw proving strong, many growers are now turning their attention to plans for the coming season. The temptation will be to make an early start to autumn drilling, but careful thought is needed to balance the benefits against the risks especially when it comes to barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) management.
Traditionally, drilling barley early in autumn increases exposure to migrating aphids, raising the risk of BYDV infection and subsequent yield loss.
With BYDV-tolerant varieties, some symptoms may still occur, but this in-built genetic tolerance markedly minimises yield losses compared to standard varieties, supporting a more sustainable and resilient cropping system. For autumn 2025, 60% of our winter barley portfolio will be BYDV tolerant varieties including Molly, Orcade, and Joyau.
Molly, Orcade, and Joyau are standout winter barley varieties recommended by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) thanks to their strong agronomic traits and BYDV tolerance, enabling growers to plan flexible sowing dates while maintaining yield and grain quality, an effective risk management tool to the persistent BYDV threat.
LG Caravelle and KWS Tardis remain leading choices among conventional 2-row winter barleys, both offering consistently high yields, reliable agronomic packages, with strong on-farm performance in recent seasons. LG Caravelle is recognised for its high tiller numbers, top grain yields, strong disease resistance, high specific weight and impressive straw output. KWS Tardis similarly demonstrates yield stability, robust straw and strong lodging resistance, performing especially well on heavy soils.
Among 6-row hybrids, SY Quantock stands out as the new benchmark for yield, achieving the joint highest UK treated yield (109%) and an exceptional untreated yield (93%) on the latest AHDB Recommended List. It boasts robust disease resistance, very high specific weight, good resistance to lodging and early maturity for flexibility at harvest. SY Canyon, another established hybrid, continues to be favoured on farms for its reliability, strong yields and good overall agronomic profile.
Winter Wheat
The 2025 growing season was marked by the unexpected breakdown of the Yr15 gene, which had previously provided effective resistance to yellow rust in several popular varieties, including Champion, KWS Dawsum, Bamford and Mayflower. This gene failure was notably evident in untreated plots at the trials farm, increasing the vulnerability of these varieties to yellow rust and making early season management essential, particularly in previously resistant varieties.
Despite this increased risk, controlling yellow rust remains generally more straightforward and less costly than managing septoria. Consequently, the key criteria for selecting winter wheat varieties continue to emphasise yield potential, strong septoria resistance, lodging and sprouting resistance and good grain quality.
Graham, KWS Extase and the newcomer KWS Arnie are mainstay varieties this autumn. These varieties stood out visually in the untreated plots at the trials farm due to their strong agronomics and resistance to yellow rust.
Graham and KWS Extase are well-established varieties known for their consistent performance in both yield and quality. Meanwhile, KWS Arnie, a promising new addition to the recommended list, ticks many important boxes. It yields 4% higher than its parent variety KWS Extase, while maintaining similarly high resistance to Septoria (rated 7), as well as strong protection against yellow rust, lodging and eyespot. With a stiffer straw and improved resistance to eyespot, KWS Arnie is particularly well suited to the second wheat slot in a rotation.
Despite the challenges with yellow rust resistance, Champion and Bamford lead the pack in terms of yield while Mayflower has exceptional agronomic merit, with table topping septoria resistance.
Oats, Rye and Triticale
Mascani and Husky favoured by White’s Oats for their consistency in terms of quality and milling yield are available. Oats have performed well this season and provide a useful break crop in cereal rotations.
The popularity of hybrid rye continues locally and when grown as whole crop provides an excellent second forage to supplement grass silage diets. This season the varieties, SU Baresi, SU Perspectiv and Astranos are available and are well suited for wholecrop silage for livestock or as a feed stock for anaerobic digesters.
Seed of Lumaco winter triticale is also available and like rye offers an alternative cereal option for wholecrop.
Enhanced Seed Treatments for Optimal Crop Performance
Seed treatments play a critical role in helping crops get off to the best possible start by enhancing plant health, promoting early root growth, improving nutrient access, reducing disease and increasing tiller retention and overall establishment success.
Key Treatments and Benefits:
- Latitude: The only specialised seed treatment proven to reduce Take-all disease, which was especially prevalent in 2024 due to early drilling and a wet, mild winter promoting soil inoculum buildup. Latitude is strongly recommended for all second and third wheat crops to manage this threat.
- Manganese Seed Treatment: Vital for crop establishment in challenging conditions, including cereals following grassland, second or third cereal crops, high pH or recently limed soils, soils with high phosphorus but low potassium, poorly drained areas and unconsolidated seedbeds.
- Kick-Off: A phosphite-based nutritional seed treatment that enhances crop vigour, resilience and winter protection. It improves root development and crop health, particularly in cold, wet seedbeds. Kick-Off also supports nitrogen efficiency, potentially reducing fertiliser needs while consistently increasing yields (by roughly 6% in trials) and carrying amino acids that boost photosynthesis and disease resistance.
- Tiros Max: A biological seed treatment utilising specialised endophyte bacteria that unlock soil phosphate and fix atmospheric nitrogen. It can increase yield by up to 0.5 t/ha and supports rooting and tiller retention, especially in high-phosphorus soils and in later drillings when soil P availability is lower due to low soil temperatures. Tiros Max delivers up to 30 kg N/ha as a nitrogen backup during wet periods, enhancing crop resilience and sustainability by reducing dependency on artificial fertilisers.
For more detailed information on variety selection, rotation planning and seed treatments, please contact your local Fane Valley Agronomist or call 028 9261 0485.
