RL winter barley and winter oilseed rape harvest update released

The harvest results from thirteen of sixteen fungicide-treated AHDB Recommended Lists (RL) winter barley trials and five of eight fungicide-untreated trials have just been released.

New high-yielding trials in Fife, Northern Ireland and Lincolnshire have pushed up the fungicide-treated average yield above the five-year average, with the new fungicide-untreated trial maintaining the 2025 average above the five-year average.

The current average fungicide-treated yield of control varieties (9.99 t/ha) is 0.2 t/ha above the five-year average (9.79t/ha).

This is up from results reported last week and takes the 2025 average above the five-year average for the first time this year, with the newly reported Fife and Lincolnshire sites notably high yielding, AHDB said.

The current average fungicide-untreated yield of control varieties (9.21 t/ha) is 1.11 t/ha above the five-year average (8.10t/ha), with all the trials so far above the five-year average, reflecting a low disease pressure year.

The 2024/25 winter barley season

A spokesperson for AHDB explained: “With most of the trials having reported now, it seems that drought has not been the significant factor we expected, though we can’t know what yields would have been like had there been more moisture. Disease levels have generally been low, and this is reflected in the high yields in fungicide-untreated trials.

“Grain quality data has now been published, and results are positive, with specific weight well above 2024 values and screenings below. It is worth noting grain quality testing is done on cleaned samples, so it will differ from values straight off the combine.

“There are now several varieties on the RL, and more candidates are coming through with resistance to or tolerance of BYDV. It should be noted that RL trials are treated for aphids in the autumn to control BYDV.”

Yields are represented as a percentage of the control varieties. In 2025 the control varieties comprise two malting varieties, Craft and Electrum, the two-row feed variety KWS Tardis, the six-row hybrid variety SY Kingsbarn and the six-row conventional variety KWS Feeris. The average of the yields from these varieties is represented as 100%, AHDB confirmed.

Read more winter barley harvest insights here.

READ MORE: Harvest 2025: Combines start rolling in Aberdeenshire

Winter oilseed rape harvest

Results from three additional Recommended List (RL) winter oilseed rape trials cover sites in Cambridgeshire, the Scottish Borders and Aberdeenshire.

These latest trials have raised the overall average yield for control varieties to 5.73 t/ha, which is 0.41 t/ha above the current four-year average.

Yields across trial sites remain variable. Control yields from the Hampshire trial came in at 4.23 t/ha, while the Scottish Borders trial recorded a much higher 7.11 t/ha. Trials in northern regions traditionally show stronger performance compared with those further south.

AHDB said that the 2024-2025 season has been more straightforward compared with the previous season, with only four of 19 fungicide-treated trials being abandoned over the winter.

Pigeon damage has been the main problem, while clubroot continues to be a challenge in northern England, causing one trial to be abandoned. Flea beetle pressure has been minimal in trials this season, mirroring trends seen in commercial crops, which is a welcome change, the experts reported.

As a result, many trial sites entered spring in good condition. Overall disease incidence has been low, though higher levels of light leaf spot were observed in susceptible varieties at certain sites, extending as far south as Kent.

The full impact of the lack of rainfall on trials is too early to gauge yet, but as an earlier maturing crop, winter oilseed rape is likely to have avoided the worst effects, AHDB added.

Read more oilseed rape harvest insights here.

READ MORE: ‘The picture is mixed’: Heavy rain slows down harvest progress

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