Spring oats recommended list

Recommended List spring oat harvest results complete with yield and quality both down

• Yield of control varieties in fungicide-treated trials is 5.69 t/ha, which is 1.48 t/ha below the 5-year average
• Yield of control varieties in fungicide-untreated trials is 5.65 t/ha, which is 0.99 t/ha below the 5-year average
• Grain quality is poor, with specific weight and kernel content lower than last year though sieving’s are broadly similar

Results from all nine fungicide-treated spring oat RL trials and seven fungicide-untreated trials are now available. The average yield of control varieties in the fungicide-treated trials is 5.69 t/ha, which is 1.48 t/ha below the five-year average of 7.17 t/ha. Yields in the English trials, with the exception of Lincolnshire, have been very poor, while trials in Scotland and Northern Ireland have done better, reflecting the difference in rainfall across the country in 2026.

Yield of control varieties in fungicide-untreated trials is 5.65 t/ha, which is 0.99 t/ha below the 5-year average of 6.64 t/ha. The very similar yields in the fungicide-treated and fungicide-untreated trials is a result of the fungicide-treated including two very low yielding sites where there was not a fungicide-untreated trial.

Calculating yield results

Yields are represented as a percentage of the control varieties. In 2026 Canyon, WPB Isabel and Merlin are the control varieties. The average yield from these varieties is represented as 100%.

2026 results

Like many commercial spring crops RL trials have suffered from the drought and heat this spring and summer. Despite this none have been lost due to drought, with low, but uniform yields in trials.

With a relatively small number of oat trials and high LSDs care should be taken not to overinterpret the results from one year. Good performance in 2026 is not necessarily a sign of drought tolerance nor vice versa.  For instance, the highest yielding recommended variety in fungicide-treated trials in 2026 is WPB Isabel on 104% of controls, well above its five-year average, but in the dry summer of 2025 it performed poorly.

Second highest yielding recommended variety in 2026 is Caledon on 102%, with newly recommended varieties Jacky and Neptun and control variety Merlin on 99%, with Canyon just behind on 98% and Conway and Asterion some way back on 94%.

The naked varieties Oliver (72%) and Lennon (71%) are targeting a different market and have performed in line with their 5-year averages.

In fungicide-untreated trials newly recommended Caledon (109%) is highest yielding, reflecting its good disease resistance ratings and high yield potential. Merlin is on 103%, while newly recommended Neptun is on 102%. Newly recommended Jacky is on 100%. WPB Isabel is on 98%.

The naked varieties Lennon (69%) and Oliver (61%) have yielded just below their five-year averages.

Five-year average

The five-year average yield is a better measure of variety performance over seasons, especially with smaller datasets like spring oats.

On this measure, Caledon is highest yielding in the fungicide-treated trials (103%) just ahead of newly recommended Jacky (102%) with newly recommended Neptun and Merlin on 101%.  WPB Isabel is on 100%, with Canyon is on 99%, Asterion on 98% and Conway on 94%.

Oliver and Lennon are both yielding 71%.

In the fungicide-untreated trials Caledon is highest yielding (108%), with newly recommended Jacky on 104%. Merlin is on 103%, with newly recommended Neptun and with Asterion and Canyon on 102%. Lennon (72%) is the higher yielding of the naked varieties, with Oliver on 62%.

Candidate varieties

Oat varieties have two years in trial as RL candidates before being considered for addition to the Recommended List. The five-year average yield is a better measure of variety performance over seasons for candidates.

Four candidate varieties are in trial this year. Clyde is the only one of these varieties in its second candidate year. It will be considered for recommendation in November. In the fungicide-treated trials it is on 101% of controls. Though it is the highest yielding variety of 2026, on 105%. In fungicide-untreated trials it is on 101%.

Three varieties are in their first candidate year and so will not be eligible for recommendation until November 2027.  Vision is the highest yielding of these in fungicide-treated trials (103%), with RGT Hamilton also on 103% and Osprey on 102%. In fungicide-untreated trials Vision is again highest yielding (106%) with Osprey on 102% and RGT Hamilton some way back on 97%.

With oats grain quality is key. In a difficult year for quality, Clyde appears to be matching the currently recommended varieties on quality, though it does have slightly higher sieving’s. Vision seems to have slightly lower specific weight but good kernel content, while RGT Hamilton and Osprey have perhaps slightly better kernel content, with RGT Hamilton also having very low sieving’s. However, all the quality data is based on a small number of trials and so caution should be exercised when considering this data. When it comes to recommendation four years of data will be considered.

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