New varieties help fuel  soft wheat resurgence

Popularity is increasing among growers after an influx of new varieties from breeders

A breeding revival in both Group 3 and soft Group 4 sectors is helping soft wheats make a comeback on farms.

Back in the day, nearly 50% of the UK wheat area was down to soft wheat varieties – including Claire, Riband, Robigus and Consort. But the percentage declined as those varieties fell out of favour – with only 8% of the total area growing soft wheat in 2024.

That should change with new varieties making soft wheat growing much more attractive again, believes Clare Leaman of NIAB. “We’ve had many years of new biscuit wheats coming, but none of them were a step forward in yield,” she explains.

“And there was such a big gap between them and hard feed wheats, with only a small premium available, that there wasn’t much incentive for growers unless you farmed very close to a biscuit mill.

“That’s now changed with the likes of Bamford, KWS Solitaire and KWS Flute because the yield of those varieties has jumped to be competitive with hard feeds and opens opportunities to a wider range of growers.”

Different options

It’s not just Group 3s which have improved. options for soft Group 4 feed wheats are also keeping pace with hard feed wheats, with the likes of RGT Hexton and LG Redwald all but matching the top-performing hard feeds, such as Champion and LG Beowulf.

The beauty of soft wheats lies in the additional market opportunities, without requiring changes to agronomy. Distilling, milling and export markets are all possibilities, depending on location, says Ms Leaaman, albeit at relatively small premiums compared with traditional Group 1 milling wheat.

“Any premium is a bonus, even if you’re not growing it specifically for a market.” Soft wheat premiums for last year’s crop have been particularly attractive for the past few months, according to soft wheat grower Sam Morris, who has been receiving £28-£30/t, rather more than the typical £10/t.”

Relative scarcity

Part of the explanation for the higher premiums lies in the relative scarcity of soft wheat alternatives, says Mr Morris, plus last year’s challenge with protein content. “This year is almost certainly going to be an outlier, but it’s been welcome.”

Mr Morris, who farms near Royston in Cambridgeshire, has been a long-term soft wheat grower, after switching away from Group 1, when the challenge and higher risk associated with making breadmaking specification became too great.

Relatively close to a Whitworth Bros mill near Wellingborough, the typical premium was enough to keep the farm growing soft wheats even through recent difficult years when most of the sector broke down to septoria as the ‘Cougar’ gene lost its effectiveness.

Market acceptance for a variety from the mill is a key requirement in his variety choice, along with yield. But he will also look at other characteristics to fit his system.

“Our rotation is three wheats on the bounce followed by a double spring break of spring barley and spring beans, which we find works well. So I’m looking for relatively high yielding second and third cereals.”

He’s also happier to see varieties with better disease profiles available again, following the struggles with septoria.”

Top yielder

Another new variety is soft Group 4 RGT Hexton. It has many attributes, says Mr Morris. “We have a small block of Hexton in one of our fields to see how it performs.”

Hexton is the top yielding second wheat on the recommended list at 108% of controls. RAGT arable technical manager Andrew Creasy says the variety is very competitive, scoring 105% across all trials.