The spring cereal recommended lists have been published for the 2018 season. The lists are published by the Crops Evaluation and Certification Division of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
As usual, there have been a few changes to the recommended lists.
Spring barley
KWS Irina, Mickle, Paustian and Propino remain on the spring barley list. RGT Planet has moved from the provisionally recommended to the recommended list. Gangway, Hacker and Limona are all new additions to the provisionally recommended variety list.
There were no changes to the varieties ratings under resistance to lodging, straw breakdown or earliness of ripening. Mickle remained the strongest variety on these characteristics.
Minor changes occurred in disease resistance ratings. Propino dropped a rating on mildew and net blotch, while Mickle also dropped to a rating of four for net blotch.
The new varieties of Gangway and Hacker stood out on grain quality. Both varieties had a hectolitre weight of 67kg/hl or above. Screenings on all three provisionally-recommended varieties were low.
Spring wheat
Quintus and RGT Doubleshot are the recommended spring wheat varieties for 2018. Sparrow is no longer on the recommended list.
Both varieties dropped on the relative yield rating. Quintus decreased from 106 to 102, while RGT Doubleshot went from 102 to 98. The most dramatic decrease in disease ratings was in Quintus. The variety went form a disease resistance rating of seven on Mildew to three.
Spring oats
The spring oats list looks similar to last year. Barra, Binary, Husky and Keely all remain on the list. However, Keely has been moved from the provisional to the recommended list.
Spring oat varieties were unchanged on relative yield and straw quality. Straw height decreased on all varieties. Keely dropped from a disease resistance rating of six to five on mildew.