The HGCA has published its 2014/15 Recommended Lists, with eight new wheat varieties added.
It is also hoped that the newcomers will help growers target specific markets, as well as assisting with pest and disease control.
The new list includes one provisional nabim Group 1 bread-making variety, two nabim Group 2 varieties, two nabim Group 3 soft varieties for biscuit-making, two soft feed varieties and one hard feed variety.
This year also sees an important change to the HGCA Wheat List in terms of the testing of the Group 1 bread-making wheats, said the organisation. The National Association of British and Irish Millers (nabim) will now give new bread-making wheat varieties a provisional nabim Group 1 rating (P) when each year’s lists are published in December.
This will then be followed by testing of commercial quantities which will confirm the provisional Group 1 status, with final classifications to be published in April.
Skyfall is the first variety to go through this process as a provisional Group 1. It has a yield 4% higher than Crusoe and has the highest specific weight in the category.
Cubanita and KWS Cashel are the two new Group 2 varieties, while Zulu and Icon have joined the list as Group 3 biscuit-making wheats. There are also new new high-yielding Group 4 soft wheats: Panacea and Twister.
Doctor Simon Oxley, who maintains the lists for the HGCA, said: “When using the lists, in addition to looking at yield, growers need to take into account regional factors such as disease risk and markets for specific types of grain.”
In total, 25 varieties of cereal have been added to the HGCA Recommended Lists, while 23 varieties have been removed, including five winter wheat varieties - KWS Sterling, KWS Podium, Einstein, Gravitas and Denman.
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