Two new winter barley varieties recommended

The 2022 Department of Agriculture recommended list of winter barley varieties contains two new varieties – KWS Joyau and KWS Tardis.

The new list contains 10 varieties in all, with all those on last year’s list still recommended.

The new varieties come with provisional recommendation, as is the norm, while Valerie, which was provisionally recommended for the last two years, remains provisional. LG Casting is now fully recommended.

The new list has five six-row varieties, two of which are hybrids, and five two-row varieties. Five of the 10 recommended varieties were bred by KWS.

Apart from the addition of the two new varieties, the only tangible changes are on yield ratings, with both hybrids now on 107 (Belfry was 109 last year), Cassia is up one yield point and Pixel and Valerie are down one yield point.

Growers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of place in rotation for the performance of winter barley. For this reason, decisions on variety should be heavily influenced by recommended list performance where all varieties are tested against each other in the same rotational situations.

It is sensible for any grower with a big winter barley area to spread the risk across a number of varieties and possible two- and six-row types as there will always be seasonal influences.

Variety choice should not be based on yield alone. A yield benefit may have to be two to four points higher to represent a significantly robust yield advantage across most situations.

Straw strength, standing power, disease resistance and quality characteristics are all also very important.

The full set of variety evaluations can be seen in Table 1.

Variety make-up will be influenced by certified seed availability.

Seed of the six-row varieties is less than 30% of the total, while the two-row varieties account for over 70% of total seed availability. And the top-three two-row varieties account for over 50% of the total. Seed availability is shown in Figure 1.

Barley varieties

Bazooka: a six-row hybrid with very high yield potential. It has very long straw but with moderate resistance to lodging.

However, it is moderately susceptible to straw breakdown. It is early maturing. It has very good resistance to rhyncho, good resistance to net blotch and moderate resistance to brown rust and mildew.

Grain size is relatively small but it has good hectolitre weight.

Belfry: a six-row hybrid with very high yield potential. It has long straw, good resistance to lodging and moderate resistance to straw breakdown. It is early maturing.

It has very good resistance to rhyncho, good resistance to brown rust and net blotch and moderate resistance to mildew.

Grain size is small but hectolitre weight is good.

KWS Cassia: yield is up a point this year and it is still a solid performer at farm level. Straw is short and stiff with moderate resistance to breakdown. It is moderately early maturing and it has excellent grain quality with big, bold grain and very high specific weight. It has good resistance to brown rust and net blotch, but it is moderately susceptible to mildew and susceptible to rhyncho. Also good against ramularia.

KWS Infinity: towards the lower end of the two-row varieties now but still strong in the field. Moderately early maturing. Straw is short with good resistance to lodging but only moderate resistance to breakdown. It has good resistance to rhyncho and net blotch and moderate resistance to brown rust but it is moderately susceptible to mildew. It has large grain with good specific weight.

KWS Joyau: a new very early maturing conventional six-row variety, with very high yield potential. It has moderately short straw with good resistance to lodging and straw breakdown. It has good resistance to brown rust and net blotch and moderate resistance to rhyncho but is moderately susceptible to mildew. Good grain quality. Breeder claims barley yellow dwarf virus tolerance.

KWS Kosmos: an early-maturing conventional six-row variety with high yield potential. It has long straw with moderate resistance to lodging but is susceptible to straw breakdown. It has very good resistance to mildew and good resistance to brown rust, rhyncho and net blotch. It has moderate grain quality with reasonable specific weight.

KWS Tardis: a new very high-yielding two-row variety. It is moderately early maturing, similar to Cassia. Straw is short with good resistance to lodging and moderate resistance to breakdown. It has good resistance to rhyncho and net blotch and is moderately resistant to mildew and brown rust. It has good grain quality.

LG Casting: moved to fully recommended this year. An early maturing two-row variety with high yield potential. It has short straw but it is moderately susceptible to lodging and straw breakdown. It has very good resistance to mildew, good resistance to brown rust and net blotch but it is moderately susceptible to rhyncho. It has high hectolitre weight.

Pixel: a very early maturing conventional six-row variety with very high yield potential. Straw is relatively short, it has good resistance to lodging but it is susceptible to straw breakdown. It has good resistance to mildew and brown rust, moderate resistance to net blotch and it is susceptible to rhyncho. Seems weak on ramularia. Grain size is small but hectolitre weight is good.

Valerie: a very early maturing two-row variety with high yield potential but it is back a point on last year. Straw is short and has moderate resistance to lodging and straw breakdown. It has good resistance to rhyncho, brown rust, mildew and net blotch. It has very big grain size and very good hectolitre weight.

In short