Harvest 2023: The 5 top-yielding winter OSR varieties map

Throughout the harvest season, we are updating our handy map with the latest data from the AHDB’s 2023 oilseed rape Recommended List harvest results.

Use the map below to find the five highest yielding oilseed rape varieties at your nearest trials site.

See also: 5 top-yielding winter barley varieties

Oilseed rape summary

Ten sites have now been published and the average gross output yield value of the control varieties for 2023 stands at 5.46 t/ha, above the four-year average of 5.16 t/ha. AHDB says thereis one trial left to report and is unlikely to change this significantly and so these results are likely to be very close the final dataset.

For the fungicide-untreated trials average gross output yield value of the control varieties for 2023 is 5.14 t/ha, just below the four-year average (5.28 t/ha), with low yields in the Lincolnshire and especially Herefordshire trials and high yields at the Fife and Midlothian sites.

Oilseed rape varieties

The highest yielding hybrid variety in the fungicide-treated trials is the newly recommended North variety Wagner (108%), with very good performance in the new Fife trial, however, it is not included in most of the lower yielding East/West trials.

Auckland is the highest yielding variety with a UK recommendation (105%) followed by newly recommended UK variety Turing (104%) and newly recommended East/West variety Murray (104%). Also newly recommended UK varieties, Vegas (103%) and Attica (102%) are just behind these.

Of the conventional varieties, newly recommended Tom (103%) has performed well in 2023, with Aspire just behind (101%) and well ahead of its four-year average.

Other conventional varieties are Acacia (97%) and Annika (94%), which has underperformed in 2023.  Amarone, which was recommended last year for the North is yielding 97% overall, above its four-year average.

The clubroot resistant varieties Crome (96%) is at its four-year average, while Crossfit (94%) and especially Crocodile (92%), which both have East/West recommendations, have yielded below their four-year average in 2023.

The herbicide-tolerant varieties have all yielded below their four-year averages in the fungicide treated trials in 2023, suggesting the unusual weather patterns in 2023 have not suited this variety type. Highest yielding is Matrix CL (94%), ahead of newly recommended for the North variety Beatrix (92%) and Constructor (85%). Constructor has performed very poorly at some northern trial.