Throughout harvest 2024, we are updating our handy interactive map with the latest data from the AHDB’s winter barley Recommended List harvest results.

Use the map below to find the five highest-yielding winter barley varieties at your nearest AHDB Recommended List trials site.

See also: Last year’s 5 top-yielding winter barley varieties

Winter barley summary

Of the 16 fungicide-treated AHDB Recommended Lists (RL) winter barley trials 12 have reported results. Two were lost to the wet over winter and two remain under investigation due to odd results.

Overall fungicide-treated yields of control varieties (9.67 t/ha) are very slightly above the five-year average (9.62 t/ha). They are also relatively consistent, ranging from 7.50 t/ha in Norfolk to 10.83 t/ha in Yorkshire.

Trials went into good conditions and established well before the weather broke last autumn. Apart from some localised waterlogging and the two lost trials, winter barley trials have come through the winter well.

It is a different story for the fungicide-untreated trials though, with the average yields for 2024 (6.78 t/ha) well below the five-year average (7.93 t/ha) with brown rust and rhynchosporium both common, clearly impacting on yields. 

Varieties

With all but two poor trials included now, the results can be considered to be a good indicator of performance in 2024.

In the fungicide-treated trials, four varieties have finished on 105% of controls, two-rows Capitol and Caravelle and the six-row hybrids Kingston and Canyon.

Just behind these on 104% is the two-row variety Tardis and two six-row hybrids Nephin and Kingsbarn. Though all these varieties except Tardis have underperformed their five-year averages in 2024.

The next highest yielding variety is the six-row conventional variety Feeris on 103%, which has tolerance to barley yellow dwarf virus. The other variety currently on the list with BYDV tolerance, Buzzard will be removed from the list in November because of lack of seed supply, though there are several candidates with this trait.

Of the other currently recommended feed varieties, most are yielding below their five-year averages in 2024 and a number are due to come off the list in November.

The two-row malting varieties have performed in line with their five-year averages in 2024, with Buccaneer on 98%, Electrum on 96% and Craft on 93%. Buccaneer remains provisionally approved for malting by the MBC and so growers should speak to local merchants about markets before committing to the variety.

Untreated trials

With a lot of disease in trials this year the results from the fungicide-untreated trials look quite different.

Highest yielding on 115% of controls is the malting variety Buccaneer, reflecting is good around disease resistance, with another variety with lower treated yield but good disease resistance Dazzle, on 112%. Splitting these two is the six-row hybrid variety Canyon on 114%.

The two-row varieties Capitol and Caravelle have also done well in the fungicide-untreated trials in 2024 on 111%, alongside Lightening, also on 111%.

The BYDV tolerant variety Feeris has also done very well in 2024 in these trials, on 110%, 8% above its five-year average, while at the other end of the scale, Valerie on 77% has suffered from its susceptibility to brown rust.

• Updated 29 August 2024