Three exceptional winter wheat varieties from RAGT Seeds featuring a wide range of valuable traits have been promoted to the 2022/23 AHDB Recommended List.
Two feed varieties, RGT Bairstow and RGT Stokes, and a biscuit wheat, RGT Rashid, are the latest wheats to emerge from the company’s renowned breeding programme, offering very high yields, good grain quality and robust agronomic features.
RGT Bairstow
- Group 4 soft
- Highest yielding soft feed on RL
- Highest second wheat yield for a soft variety
- Rated good for distilling
- Good grain quality
- Very good all-round disease profile
- High Septoria tritici rating and OWBM resistance
- Suits UK and all regions
RGT Bairstow has become the highest yielding soft feed variety on the RL, with a five-year treated mean yield of 103.1%.
It also has the highest second wheat yield of any recommended soft wheat variety at 104.3%, almost a point ahead of its nearest rival.
RGT Bairstow has delivered exceptional results in all regions, building on its early promise as a consistent performer.
Grain quality is good, with Hagberg at 228 and specific weight at 75.9kg/hl. This is well above the minimum feed wheat specification and comfortably ahead of the 74kg/hl spec that has secured some good premiums for soft Group 4 wheats this season.
These figures are underpinned by RGT Bairstow’s reluctance to sprout in the ear and resistance to orange wheat blossom midge.
The variety is also rated good for distilling*, an obvious attraction in the north, where the variety also gains its biggest yield advantage over its main rivals.
Parentage is Revelation / Santiago // Cougar producing an excellent all-round disease resistance package, borne out by an impressive resistance rating for Septoria tritici of 6.4 based on the AHDB three-year dataset. The variety has solid ratings of 7 and 6 for yellow rust and mildew respectively and is resistant to orange wheat blossom midge.
* RGT Bairstow gave consistently high alcohol yields across all sites at below average nitrogen levels, more than consolidating its Positive NL1/2 rating. As such looks very promising for distilling and is rated Good.
Source: Scotch Whisky Research Institute
RGT Stokes
- Group 4 Soft
- Highest yielding wheat for the West
- Highest yielding soft feed in North trials
- Impressive second wheat performance
- Rated good for distilling
- Good grain quality
- Good rust resistance and very high Septoria tritici resistance
- Consider for UK and all regions
RGT Stokes has very similar yield potential to RGT Bairstow, achieving 102.4% of controls in the AHDB’s five-year dataset.
Very high yielding in all regions, it saves its best for the west, where it racks up an exceptional treated yield of 105.2%.
The variety, a Cougar / Santiago // Revelation cross, also has a very strong three-year Septoria tritici resistance rating of 6.9, ahead of any other soft wheat. It also scores a 7 and 5 for yellow rust and mildew.
Overall, it is a very attractive package and an obvious replacement for some older favourites in the west.
RGT Stokes also produces very big yields in the north, reflected in its official 104% rating for the region. It is likely to attract a strong following here too, thanks to its good distilling rating*.
In analysis carried out by the Scottish Whisky Research Institute, the variety produced the overall highest alcohol yield in 2021 of RL candidates and control varieties.
Early drilling potential and the fact it makes a very good second wheat will add to its appeal. RGT Stokes is very stiff strawed when treated with PGR and exhibits good grain quality, with 248 Hagberg and 75.3kg/ha specific weight.
* RGT Stokes gave consistently high alcohol yields across all sites at below average nitrogen levels, more than consolidating its Positive NL1/2 rating. Was the overall highest alcohol yield performer in 2021 particularly at the lower nitrogen sites. As such looks very promising for distilling and is rated Good.
Source: Scotch Whisky Research Institute
RGT Rashid
- Group 3 Soft
- Highest yielding group 3 for the East
- Good grain quality
- Medium for distilling
- Very good straw
- Excellent disease profile
- Very good Septoria tritici rating and OWBM resistance
Group 3 newcomer RGT Rashid has been recommended for the East region and looks to be a very secure choice for growers from Yorkshire through the Midlands to the south coast, offering high yields and good premiums.
In the East it achieved just over 102.1% of controls, around two points clear of key competitors.
The grain exceeds the minimum standard for biscuit production, putting in a solid performance over three years of official trials. It is rated at 226 Hagberg and has a good specific weight of 76.4kg/hl.
RGT Rashid is an Icebreaker / Solo // Cougar cross. The variety has no real weaknesses – its three-year Septoria tritici score is 6.9 and it has very good 8 for yellow rust, arguably the best combination of these two diseases in the Group 3 sector.
The variety has strong, stiff straw. This, together with its strong disease profile and resistance to orange wheat blossom midge, makes it an obvious successor to Firefly in the East.
