This year’s recommended winter wheat list from the Department of Agriculture sees Graham and KWS Conros make their way onto the fully recommended list, while the only new addition to the provisionally recommended list is SY Insitor.

SY Insitor has a relative yield rating of 102, one under the variety at the top of the list – Graham. Torp follows at 100, while KWS Conros came in at 98 and JB Diego and Costello came in at 97.

Looking at the crucial disease scores, Torp rated highest for resistance to Septoria with a score of 7. Graham scored a 6, while the remainder came in at 5, apart from long-standing variety JB Diego which was rated at 4.

Costello and KWS Conros rated best on rust at a score of 8. Costello also scored an 8 on resistance to sprouting. JB Diego and KWS Conros were next in this characteristic with a score of 7.

Costello had the highest KPH value at 77.5. This was followed by KWS Conros at 75.8.

Examining straw characteristics, KWS Conros rated at 8 for both resistance to lodging and straw breakdown. Costello wasn’t far behind with an 8 for resistance to lodging and a 7 for straw breakdown.

Following the difficult harvest seed availability may have changed as sprouting and other quality issues resulted in rejections of seed.

However, the top three varieties planted for seed were Graham, which was due to account for approximately 46% of the total seed availability, Costello and Bennington.

Bennington did not make the list this season. However, many growers have been happy with the variety and where it is being planted early and has a better opportunity to be cut early in the season it has good yield potential with a relative yield score of 100.

The full list can be viewed on the Department of Agriculture’s website.