Throughout the harvest season, we are updating our handy map with the latest data from the AHDB’s 2024 wheat Recommended List (RL) harvest results.

Use the map below to find the five highest-yielding wheat varieties at your nearest trials site.

See also: Harvest 24: 5 top-yielding winter OSR varieties

Wheat summary

AHDB has published results from 27 sites and the average yield of the controls in the fungicide-untreated trials is 6.51 t/ha, well below the five-year average of 8.57 t/ha, with brown rust and septoria having taken their toll. Four fungicide-treated and three fungicide-untreated trials have been abandoned mostly due to waterlogging. 

Wheat variety selection

The Group 4 (hard) variety Champion is highest yielding in the fungicide-treated trials on 111%, with soft group 4 variety Redwald on 110% and the newly recommended Group 3 variety Bamford on 109%. All above their five-year averages.

Group 2 variety Palladium has performed exceptionally in 2024 and is on 108%, with hard Group 4s Insitor, Graham and Typhoon just behind on 107%, again all above their five-year averages. Other notably good results for 2024 are Mayflower on 105% and Zyatt, on 104%.

The newly recommended varieties Group 1 variety Cheer (95%), soft Group 4 Blackstone (101%) and hard Group 4 Beowulf (104%) are all just 1% below their five-year averages.

Newly recommended for the North variety Almara is in contrast 1% above its five-year average on 99%, and has done better in the Scottish trials, yielding 100% or above in all trials.

Popular hard group 4 variety Dawsum has not performed so well in 2024 on 102%, with Bairstow also struggling on 99%. Similarly, Costello (93%), Stokes (94%) and Skyscraper (98%) are below their five-year averages in 2024.  

Untreated trials

In the fungicide-untreated trials, Group 2 variety Mayflower stands out on 131% of controls, well ahead of its five-year average of 115% and well ahead of its newly recommended Elsom’s stablemate,  Group 3 variety Bamford on 121%.

Just behind this are Group 2 varieties Palladium and Extase, both on 119% and Ultimatum on 117%. Newly recommended for the North, Group 3 variety Almara is next highest yielding on 112%, with  Typhoon just behind this on 111%.

Newly recommended Group 1 variety Cheer is highest yielding of the Group 1s on 104%, just ahead of Zyatt, on 103%, which is benefitting from the low yellow rust disease pressure this year. In contrast, Crusoe on 73% has suffered from the high brown rust pressure this year.

Some varieties have done very poorly in the fungicide-untreated trials in 2024 compared with their five-year average and while for some, such as Skyscraper (91%), this is likely a result lower septoria resistance. For others it is low brown rust resistance, for instance newly recommended Beowulf (94%), Champion (102%), Cranium (94%) and Insitor (83%).

• Updated 25 October