Spring barley recommended and candidate lists

Spring barley Recommended List harvest result yields complete with yields suppressed in both fungicide-treated and untreated trials

• Recommended List fungicide-treated spring barley trials have average yields of 7.42 t/ha, just below the 5-year average
• Trials in England have yielded below 2024, while those in Scotland have generally yielded above 2024 levels
• Fungicide-untreated trials have average yields of 6.48 t/ha, again just below the 5-year average
• Specific weights are lower than 2024 and screenings higher

Yields from all Recommended List spring barley trials are now available. Average yield of the control varieties is 7.42 t/ha in the fungicide-treated trials, 0.36 t/ha below the five-year average. Trials in the south are lower yielding than in 2024, while the Scottish trials are close to or above their 2024 yield, with the exception of trials in Angus, which have yielded lower. Three trials were lost due to unevenness in the trial or animal damage. Grain quality is poorer than 2024, with lower specific weights and higher screenings, though none of the trials have suffered the catastrophic grain quality anecdotally reported in some commercial crops.

Average yield of the controls in the fungicide-untreated trials is 6.48 t/ha, just below the five-year average of 6.56 t/ha, a large decline since the last update after the inclusion of low yielding trials in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Angus, through driven more by drought than disease, which was at low levels across the trials this year. One fungicide-untreated trial was lost due to due to unevenness.

Yield calculation

Yields are represented as a percentage of the control varieties. In 2025 the control varieties comprise five malting varieties, RGT Planet, Laureate, LG Diablo, Firefoxx and Skyway. The average of the yields from the control varieties is represented as 100%.

2025 yield averages

Fungicide-treated trials

Highest yielding of the fully approved malting varieties is Skyway (104%) with Laureate and Firefoxx just behind on 103%. SY Tennyson has slipped back in the latest trials and has finished on 101%. RGT Planet (98%) and LG Diablo (93%) are some way back. Problems with the seed for KWS Sassy this year mean there is no new data for 2025.

There are a large number of varieties that have been provisionally approved by the MBC for malting, but until they are fully approved demand is likely to be limited and so growers should speak to merchants to ensure there is a market before committing to them. Belter and Ptarmigan which are provisionally approved for brewing and malt distilling are the highest yielding varieties in 2025 on 105%.  Bounty is provisionally approved for brewing only and is on 104%, alongside SY Arrow which is provisionally approved for brewing and malt distilling. LG Aquarius provisionally approved for brewing only is on 103%, alongside and KWS Enduris and Firecracker which are provisionally approved for brewing and malt distilling. Olsen provisionally approved for brewing and malt distilling is on 102%, with Diviner, which is provisionally approved for malt distilling only on 101%.

The null-lox described variety CB Score is on 102%, while the described grain distilling variety Fairing is on 92%.

Two feed only varieties are currently recommended and both have yielded well in 2025, with both NOS Gambit and Hurler on 105%. SY Signet has been removed from testing by the MBC and so will be reconsidered as a feed variety, but on 101% is likely to be removed from the RL.

Fungicide-untreated trials

With low rainfall and high temperatures this spring disease levels have not been high in trials and fungicide-untreated yields don’t really link to specific disease weaknesses or strengths.

Highest yielding variety is the the provisionally approved variety Ptarmigan on 107% with Firecracker and LG Aquarius, both also provisionally approved on 106%. Provisionally approved Belter is on 105% alongside the feed variety NOS Gambit.

Firefoxx is the highest yielding of the fully approved malting varieties, on 103%, with Laureate and Skyway on 102%.

Five-year averages

The five-year average values provide a better representation of performance across seasons, especially for candidates. These yield figures are used in the selection of candidates to add to the RL in the autumn, along with disease resistance ratings, grain quality, agronomic characters and importantly for potential malting varieties, the view of the MBC on malting quality.

The five-year averages closely mirror the current RL yield for most varieties. The provisionally approved brewing only variety Bounty takes the top spot on 105%, with four varieties on 104%, provisionally approved brewing and malt distilling varieties SY Arrow and Belter and the feed varieties Hurler and NOS Gambit. Ptarmigan and Firecracker, both provisionally approved for brewing and malt distilling and LG Aquarius provisionally approved for brewing are all on 103%.

The fully approved variety yields are also very similar to their current RL values, with Firefoxx, Laureate and Skyway highest yielding on 102%, with SY Tennyson on 101% and the described null-lox variety CB Score on 100%.

Fungicide-untreated five-year averages yields similarly mirror closely the current RL. Firecracker is highest yielding of all on 108%, with KWS Enduris, and Ptarmigan on 106% and Belter on 105%. The feed variety NOS Gambit is the highest yielding feed on 106%.

Laureate is highest yielding of the fully approved malting varieties on 104%, with Firefoxx on 102% and Skyway on 101% along with CB Score.

Candidates

Data can only be shown for varieties that have been added to the GB and NI variety list. So far this is just one of the ten candidates, KWS Thalis. It is a null-lox variety so will have a limited market but will be added as a described variety to the spring barley RL in the autumn. Currently its fungicide-treated yield of 100% in 2025 and 99% over five-years is just below the current null-lox variety on the RL CB Score. Its fungicide-untreated five-year yield of 103% is above that of CB Score.

Nolan was approved for addition to the RL in 2024, but had not been added to the national Variety List, so could not be included. It has now been added to the VL and will be reconsidered this year. It has a fungicide-treated yield of 103% and untreated yield of 105%.

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