Two newly recommended soft wheats are predicted to make an impact in Scotland thanks to their grain and alcohol yields.
The Group 4 wheats, RGT Stokes and RGT Bairstow, were presented to the seed trade in Edinburgh by RAGT’s cereals and oilseed rape product manager Tom Dummett.
He said they were the highest yielding soft varieties in the North region, at 104% and 103% of controls respectively, compared with Skyscraper’s 102%.
He added: “They also produce very high alcohol yields.
“In analysis carried out by the Scottish Whisky Research Institute, RGT Stokes produced the highest alcohol yield in 2021 of Recommended List (RL) candidates and control varieties, with RGT Bairstow just behind. Both are described as very promising for distilling and rated good.
“Overall, the alcohol yield per hectare of these two varieties is better than anything else the industry has seen, which is very good news when end users are looking ever more closely at sustainability of production.”
The two varieties have the best Septoria tritici resistance ratings within the soft Group 4 sector. On the one year (2021) Recommended List rating, RGT Bairstow is rated at 6.0 and RGT Stokes at 6.2, ahead of Skyscraper’s 4.6.
“Their septoria resistances have held up very well, and they also have good yellow rust scores,” said Mr Dummett.
At a national level, RGT Bairstow is the highest yielding soft feed variety on the RL, with a treated mean yield for the UK of 103.1%. It also has the highest second wheat yield of any recommended soft wheat variety at 104.3%.
RGT Stokes scores 102.4% for UK yield, however in the West it is rated at 105.2%, which reflects its strong septoria resistance.
“Early drilling potential and its very good second wheat will add to its appeal,” said Mr Dummett.
“Overall, RGT Stokes is a very attractive package and an obvious replacement for some older favourites in the West region.”