Why DSV champion could be the highest yielding winter wheat

DSV Champion achieved the highest average yield for winter wheat across the UK plus the highest outright yield recorded in the AHDB Harvest Results published on 31 August 2022.

The one-year results put the variety in top spot with 107.1% of control representing an average yield of 12.83t/ha.

DSV Champion has also achieved the highest yield seen across all 19 trial sites in 2022 with16.2t/ha at Terrington in Norfolk.

Sarah Hawthorne ©Tim Scrivener

Specific weights have been strong too with an average of 79.4kg/hl for the year, reports DSV’s Sarah Hawthorne.

“It’s been a great year in the field for DSV Champion with the variety more than living up to its number one spot for yield in the 2022/23 AHDB Recommended List.

“It’s performed consistently well across the UK with yields of more than14t/ha being recorded in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Leicestershire and 15.49t/ha seen in Devon as well as the 16t/ha plus yield in Norfolk.

“This shows the variety’s consistency in a range of different growing conditions. In the current RL, the variety performs well across soil types delivering 105% of control yield on light soils and 106% on heavy land.

“It also delivers its full potential in both first and second wheat slots at 105% and 107% of controls respectively.”

On the disease front, DSV Champion had one of the lowest incidences of septoria tritici and yellow rust recorded in the 2022 trials, she says.

“Average UK incidence of septoria tritici was just 7.4% putting it in the top five out of the 46 varieties in the trial and incidence of yellow rust was negligible at 0.2%.

“Again, this supports its RL results which show 8s for both septoria tritici and yellow rust resistance. Don’t forget DSV Champion also has orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM) resistance and we’ve seen very little lodging over 5 years of trials, too.”

“The trials have really underlined the variety’s future potential, but it has also performed well with growers with many reporting some of the best yields they have ever seen.

“It’s proving hugely popular with growers wanting a reliable, resilient and versatile barn-filler as well as those wanting to pursue a more regenerative approach.”

Matt Kerton © Tim Scrivener

DSV Champion breeder Dr Matt Kerton says the variety is one of only a handful to have successfully addressed the yield-resistance trade-off.

“DSV is the only company breeding wheat in the West of the UK where the threat of disease, particularly septoria, is much higher than in other parts of the country.

“This means our varieties are being developed in conditions with greater agronomic challenges which ensures they have robust disease resistance and resilience at their heart.”

The latest DSV’s Group 4 hard wheat to emerge from the company’s UK-based breeding programme DSV Oxford has also done well in this year with one-year AHDB harvest results showing an average 104% yield delivering 12.5t/ha.

DSV Theodore has also maintained its reputation as the UK’s cleanest wheat with 0% incidence of yellow rust and the best septoria tritici score in the results at just 3.4%.