Other crops (descriptive lists)

Recommended Lists harvest results from winter rye and winter triticale show contrasting fortunes for the two crops

• Winter rye average control yields are 10.09 t/ha, just 0.22 t/ha below the five-year average
• Winter triticale average control yields are 9.22 t/ha, 1.06 t/ha below the five-year average

AHDB Descriptive Lists (DL) rather than Recommend Lists (RL) are published for winter rye and winter triticale. DLs are used where recommendation is not appropriate, but for which there is a wish to provide some descriptive data within the RL system. The varieties on the DL are those for which seed should be available. Far fewer trials are run than for the RLs and differences between varieties should be treated with more caution.

All four trials for the AHDB winter rye and winter triticale lists have now reported in and there is a contrast between the two crops. Winter rye yields have held up well, with average yield of the control varieties just 0.22 t/ha below the five-year average, reflecting rye’s reputation for being drought tolerant. Triticale yields have in contrast, like most crops this year, suffered in the hot dry conditions, with average control yields 1.06 t/ha below the five-year average.

Yields

Yields are represented as a percentage of the control varieties. The average of the yields from these varieties is represented as 100%. All trials receive a fungicide and PGR program there are no fungicide-untreated trials, but small disease observation plots that receive not fungicide are used to assess disease resistance.

Winter triticale  

Average yield of the control varieties in the four trials in 2026 is 9.22 t/ha, well below the five-year average of 10.28 t/ha and below the 2025 average of 10.13 t/ha. All four trial yielding lower than in 2025. The two northern trials are higher yielding, reflecting the more favourable weather further north. Disease levels in trials were generally low this year, though the susceptible variety KWS Fido did suffer significant yellow rust at some sites. Grain quality is good, with protein and specific weight similar to 2025.

With so few trials care must be taken not to overinterpret the results. Having said this, the highest yielding DL variety in 2026 is Lumaco at 105% of controls, the same as its five-year average. It has performed well across all trials. Second highest yielding variety in 2026 is Kasyno at 95%, again matching its five-year average.  RGT Rutenac, Bicross and RGT Eleac are all on 94%, well below their five-year averages with RGT Rutenac and Bicross also show significant variability between trials. Data for RGT Eleac is limited to one site due to seed supply issues in the autumn of 2025. SU Askadus and KWS Fido are on 93%, also below their five-year averages.

There are no triticale candidate varieties for 2026.

Winter rye

DL winter rye trials measure grain yield, not whole-crop yield, although the two are closely related. Data is available from all four trials in 2026.

The average yield of the control varieties at 10.09 t/ha is just below the five-year average of 10.31 t/ha. Rye is generally considered to be drought tolerant and this may explain the relatively good yields compared with triticale. Data from disease observation plots shows the relatively low disease pressure this year, with only brown rust recorded. Grain quality is generally good, with specific weight similar to 2025, but protein higher than 2025, with high Hagberg values.

As with triticale, differences between varieties should be treated with caution due to the small number of trials. Highest yielding in 2026 is SU Baresi on 106%, above its five-year average of 104%. SU Thor is on 104%, just below its five-year average of 105%. KWS Emphor, SU Erling and KWS Tayo are all on 103%, with KWS Tayo below its five-year average. SU Karlsson is on 101%, with SU Perspective and SU Performer on 100%.

There are two candidate varieties for the rye DL this year, SU Ivar and SU Torvi, but both varieties have been withdrawn by the breeder and will not be added to the DL.

Seed may no longer be available for some varieties in these trials or only available in small quantities and these will be removed from the DL in December.

Further information

Access full trial results via the AHDB website: ahdb.org.uk/harvestresults

AHDB Recommended Lists (RL) trials test variety performance under optimum conditions. Care should be taken when making comparisons with commercial yields. Results from individual trial sites should not be used to make conclusions on variety performance. The RL publications are based on information from trials across the UK over several seasons. As more information becomes available from the current harvest, this will contribute to the over-trials averages – which comprise four years for oilseeds and five years for cereals. These averages provide better information for comparison between varieties. Performance variation is not the responsibility of AHDB. Since the focus is to test new varieties, not all RL varieties are presented. Yields for well-established varieties are published at ahdb.org.uk/rl