Harvest 2022: The 5 top-yielding winter barley varieties map

Throughout harvest 2022, we are updating our handy map with the latest data from 2022’s AHDB winter barley Recommended List harvest results.

Use the map below to find the five highest-yielding winter barley varieties at your nearest trials site.

See also: Last year’s 5 top-yielding winter barley varieties

Winter barley summary

The average yield of the control varieties in the treated trials is 9.72 t/ha, just below the five-year average of 9.81 t/ha.

However, the 2022 average masks wide variation – from 6.96 t/ha at Baumber in Lincolnshire, to 12.31 t/ha at Little Shelford in Cambridgeshire. Wide variations in yield have also been reported in commercial crops.

In the untreated trials, yields have held up well, with the average of the controls at 8.53 t/ha, ahead of the five-year average of 8.14 t/ha. This result reflects the dry year, with generally low disease pressure.

Varieties

It has been a good year for six-row hybrids – except Bazooka, all outperformed their five-year averages in treated trials. Some two-row varieties also performed very well in the untreated series.  

Of the six-row hybrids only Bazooka has failed to exceed its five-year average, on 103%.

In the treated trials, six-row hybrid Kingsbarn is the highest yielding on 109%, with Kingston, Thunderbolt and newly recommended Canyon on 108%, ahead of their five-year averages.

Belmont is on 107%, with Belfry on 105%. In the six-row hybrids, only Bazooka failed to exceed its five-year average, which it equalled (104%).

Of the six-row conventional varieties, newly recommended barley yellow dwarf virus-tolerant Feeris in on 104% and Funky is 103% in treated trials. It is important to note that RL trials are sprayed for aphids in the autumn to combat BYDV.

See also: Last year’s 5 top-yielding winter oilseed rape varieties

The best of the two-row feed varieties in the treated trials in 2022 are Bordeaux and the newly recommended variety Lightning (104%). Bolton is on 103%, followed by Mountain and Surge (102%).

Yield leading two-row variety on the RL, Tardis, has had a disappointing year at 100% and seems to have struggled in some northern trials.

Two-row malting varieties are judged more on their quality than outright yield. The average yield of Electrum (96%) has held up, but Craft (91%) is below the five-year average.