The UK recommendations include the new two-row feed varieties KWS Valencis, NOS Olena and Kitty.
KWS Valencis and NOS Olena from Senova offer very high yields with good disease resistance. Although Kitty is slightly lower yielding, it joins the one other variety on the list with resistance to barley yellow mosaic virus strain 2 (BaYMV2). It also has a very high specific weight (72.7 kg/hl). The variety will not appeal to everyone, but it provides very valuable traits, says AHDB.
Regional recommendations
Russo (from Agrii), KWS Heracalis and Rosemary (from Elsoms) and SU Arion (from Saaten Union) have all been given regional recommendations.
For the East, Russo has very high treated and high untreated yields.
For the North, KWS Heraclis and Rosemary offer very high treated and high untreated yields. SU Arion has been recommended for the North and East regions, with the yield in the East region particularly high. Its high mildew disease rating will appeal to some growers.
Six-row feed
Over recent years, the yield gap between six-row hybrids and two-row feed varieties has closed. However, two new six-row hybrid varieties for the UK have stretched that gap once more. Inys (from KWS) is very high yielding, especially in the East and West regions, with a high untreated yield. SY Quantock (from Syngenta) offers very high yield in the North and West regions with a high untreated yield. Both have good lodging resistance and grain quality.
Spring barley
The spring barley list has five new varieties: four under evaluation for brewing and malt distilling by the Malting Barley Committee (MBC) and one feed variety. It also includes disease resistance ratings for net blotch for the first time.
SY Arrow (from Syngenta) offers high treated yields across all regions. Firecracker (from Agrii) offers high treated yield, especially in the West region and high untreated yield. Ptarmigan (from Agrii) and KWS Enduris have slightly lower treated yields but have high untreated yields.
Ptarmigan is earlier than most varieties on the list, which will attract growers in the North, says AHDB. These new additions offer improvements in yield and/or disease resistance compared with the current market leaders. However, the market is tough to break into and they may still fail to achieve full MBC approval, AHDB advises. Therefore growers should ensure they have a market before committing to such varieties.
NOS Gambit was originally recommended last year as a malting variety but dropped out of the MBC testing process. It has been reassessed and added back onto the list as a feed variety.
BYDV traits
The influx of varieties added to the 2025 AHDB cereal Recommended Lists (RL) with a specific recommendation for resistance or tolerance to Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV), mark a step change in the way varieties are being chosen, and how the RL will operate.
Five new barley varieties offer specific recommendations for tolerance or resistance to BYDV, a novel trait added to the RL in the last few years.
With improved yields and disease resistance over the initial BYDV varieties, these are likely to appeal to more growers, says AHDB. The new list includes two-row feed varieties with BYDV tolerance for the first time. Organa (from Senova) has a UK recommendation and offers high treated yields, especially in the East, and good disease resistance.
LG Carpenter (from Limagrain) has an East and a West recommendation, with high treated yield in these regions and the highest untreated yield of any two-row on the list. Three new six-row feed varieties feature BYDV tolerance or resistance.
Conventional variety Integral (from Agrii) offers high treated yield, especially in the East and West regions, with high untreated yield. Sixy (from Elsoms) is slightly lower yielding in the East and West regions, but higher yielding in the North region, although its untreated yield is disappointing. Hybrid variety SY Kestrel (from Syngenta) offers BYDV resistance (rather than tolerance) and has tolerance to wheat dwarf virus. It is very high yielding in the West region.
Oats lists
The spring oat variety Caledon (from Saten union) is the only new variety added to the lists for oats this year. It offers very high treated and untreated yields combined with good grain quality.
