Farming Monthly National June 2016 | Page 20

| Cereals

New varieties take performance to the next level

KWS is to unveil four new varieties spanning three crop types with each offering class-leading grain quality attributes at Cereals 2016.

T he new varieties, include milling and feed wheat, malting barley and oats, and combine higher yields with strong all-round disease packages meaning they offer something for every grower.

All four candidates are in Recommended List trials and will potentially be added to the 2017-18 AHDB Recommended List later this year.
KWS Zyatt is a potential Group 1 milling wheat with a yield of 105 % of controls, 8 % ahead of the current Group 1 control, Crusoe, and on a par with high-yielding feed wheat KWS Santiago. Unusually for a Group 1, KWS Zyatt manages to maintain its yield without sacrificing protein which, at 12.1 %, is on a par with established milling variety Gallant.
“ KWS Zyatt shows great promise. Over three years of private testing KWS Zyatt has shown itself to be a typical Group 1 with grain and flour characteristics similar to that of other varieties in this group and consistent bread-making performance,” says KWS wheat breeder Mark Dodds.
“ In has performed similarly well in official testing with comments noting its‘ good baking quality similar to that of Gallant’,” he adds.
A yield on-par with feed wheats will further underline its appeal to growers as it means they can grow for the heap without suffering a yield penalty while retaining the opportunity to pursue price premiums for quality.
“ KWS Zyatt is the ultimate in flexible wheats. It combines excellent yields and grain quality and strong disease resistance to the principal foliar diseases and pch 1 eyespot resistance, meaning it will find a place on every farm,” says Mark Dodds.
KWS Kerrin is a feed wheat with outstanding yield.“ It has been remarkably consistent across contrasting seasons proving to be the highest yielding winter wheat in National List trials over the past two years where it out-performed KWS Santiago in 24 of sites,” says Mark Dodds.
“ KWS Kerrin is a KWS Santiago cross, but with better yield performance and disease resistance. It has a good yellow rust score, OWBM resistance and is a medium height variety with strong
straw and maturity similar to other Group 4s.
“ It has a similar HFN to its parent and will appeal to those in the East where it is a natural successor to KWS Santiago,” adds Mark Dodds.
KWS Funky is a six-row winter barley with excellent all-round disease resistance, especially to Rhynchosporium and brown rust. A yield of 105 % of controls places it just 1 % behind the leading hybrid, Volume and 2 % ahead of the leading conventional, KWS Meridian. It is the same maturity to Volume and is a day earlier than KWS Meridian and features the highest specific weight of any sixrow winter barley at 69.3 kg / hl.“ Funky has strong farmer appeal. It’ s the highest yielding non-hybrid six-row in NL trials in 2015 and the third-highest six-row overall. It is the equal stiffest strawed variety since KWS Meridian with no recorded lodging in treated or untreated trials. It is also 10cm shorter than Volume which will speed combining at harvest,” says KWS barley and oat breeder David Harrap.
“ Rhynchosporium is the principal disease concern of barley and Funky has shown strong resistance to this and net blotch in trials. Add its high specific weight and it is an enticing feed barley proposition,” adds David Harrap.
WPB Elyann is a spring oat that is receiving strong interest from millers for its excellent grain qualities.
A yield of 8.44t / ha( 103 % of controls) and exceptional kernel content – it is the only variety on the AHDB Recommended List trials with a score above 80 % – high specific weight and low screenings make Elyann the stand-out spring oat candidate for harvest 2016.
“ Elyann has received considerable interest and large batches have been requested from this harvest for evaluation. It is the most exciting spring oat to come through the system in recent years and with increasing domestic demand from millers, we expect Elyann to be a significant beneficiary,” says David Harrap.
“ It will fit well on farm being two days earlier to mature both Firth and Canyon and similar resistance to the principal diseases, mildew and crown rust,” adds David Harrap.
20 | Farming Monthly | June 2016 www. farmingmonthly. co. uk