KWS Zyatt is the Group 1 candidate from KWS that boasts exceptional yield performance, impressive agronomics and excellent physical grain quality to offer the ultimate dynamic wheat.
“A Hereford x Quartz cross, KWS Zyatt competes on all fronts. It will appeal to growers in all regions and across all farm situations where it excels as a second cereal,” says KWS cereal product manager, Will Compson.
“It yields on a par with the leading feed wheats, but with the grain attributes expected of a Group 1. It has excellent all-round disease resistance, is short and stiff-strawed, and is early to mature, similar to Gallant. It has attracted great interest ever since it first went in to trials as a numbered variety in 2012,” adds Will Compson.
KWS Zyatt will complete its testing after harvest when nabim will conduct final small-scale lab testing and subject larger quantities to macro milling evaluation. However, its excellent yield and unbeaten untreated yield over four years of official testing suggest it will find a home on many farms.
“Growers are looking to varieties which offer more than just yield. They want those with broad end-use marketability and good agronomics that combine to reduce the market and disease risk of growing cereals, KWS Zyatt delivers that,” adds Will Compson.
BAKING TESTS
To establish end-user suitability KWS commissioned two UK millers over three years to assess KWS Zyatt against a commercial bread-making standard and other current Group 1 varieties.
“The tests confirmed KWS Zyatt’s ability to hit the yields and maintain proteins. Furthermore, it was easy and quick to mill in comparison with other Group 1 varieties evaluated,” says KWS value chain manager, Dr Kirsty Richards.
“We believe its protein building capability stems from its Hereford parentage. Its higher root density and deeper root growth correlates with a tendency to scavenge more effectively for nitrogen and support higher grain proteins and is one reason why it was selected as a suitable parent.”
The milling analysis also provided the basis for a series of baking tests in which KWS Zyatt was compared against another Group 1 variety, Skyfall.
“KWS Zyatt showed good extraction rates and the ability to produce flour proteins, water absorption and starch damage in line with other Group 1 varieties tested. More detailed examinations revealed that KWS Zyatt produced heavier wet gluten than the Skyfall comparison demonstrating that it has very functional proteins for bakers to utilise.
“This translated into KWS Zyatt creating a strong white flour product which baked very well, delivering white loaves with excellent oven spring and loaf volume. This work has highlighted that KWS Zyatt could be useful ingredient across an array of white bakery products in the future,” says Kirsty Richards.
