Newly recommended winter wheat variety Siskin has been upgraded to a Group 2 quality wheat, following a review of data by the Nabim Varieties Working Group.

This gives farmers another dual-purpose option next autumn, offering feed wheat yield with premium earning potential.

The original decision back in November 2015 to make it a Group 4 variety came as a surprise, as it had been widely expected to gain Group 2 status, offering growers a high-yielding variety that would also command a premium from millers.

Instead, it placed the variety in a more competitive feed sector, as one of five new Group 4 additions alongside some established and consistent choices.

See also: Wheat variety focus shifts from yields to better resilience

This prompted the breeder KWS to successfully appeal the decision, as a Nabim review found the original decision did not reflect all growing situations, when looking at milling and baking performance data from a range of new trial sites.

Martin Savage, Nabim trade policy manager, said: “Based on the evidence we had in November, Siskin was judged to have the characteristics of a Nabim Group 4 variety.

“An appeal was received from KWS, the plant breeder, stating that the original Nabim decision had placed undue weight on one data set.

“Additional data was then considered which helped to show that Siskin’s breadmaking performance variability was within the acceptable range for a Group 2 variety,” said Mr Savage.

KWS managing director Andrew Newby welcomed the decision, saying he had always been confident in the variety’s suitability as a breadmaking wheat.

“The decision to downgrade Siskin to a Group 4 came as a surprise and after consulting our technical team, led by Mark Dodds and Kirsty Richards, we felt there was justification for an appeal.”

AHDB has updated its online Recommended List to reflect this decision and Siskin joins two other Group 2 varieties – Lili, another KWS variety, and Cordiale.