The spring wheat list, released by the Department of Agriculture late last week, has four new varieties and while there are no new additions to the list, two varieties have been moved from provisionally recommended to fully recommended. They are KWS Fixum and WPB Escape.

KWS Fixum tops the list for relative yield with a score of 104, while WPB Escape follows on 102.

KWS Helium is the tallest variety on the list at 73.9cm. This variety also has the best score for earliness of ripening with a six.

As spring wheat is a late-harvested crop this is something to watch out for.

WPB Escape tops the table on resistance to lodging. It is the shortest variety at 61.6cm.

KWS Helium and WPB Duncan come out best on resistance to mildew with a score of seven each. WPB Duncan has the highest resistance to Septoria with a score of six.

WPB Duncan spring wheat.

WPB Duncan and WPB Escape both score a seven for resistance to yellow rust, while KWS Fixum scores a six and KWS Helium scores a five.

WPB Escape falls down on resistance to sprouting with a score of five, compared to the other three varieties' score of seven.

When it comes to grain quality KWS Helium comes out on top with a thousand grain weight of 50.4 and a hectolitre weight of 81.3.

If we look at milling potential, the protein content levels are not high enough for bread-making.

All varieties have Hagberg falling numbers suitable for bread production, but protein levels do not match up.

Hectolitre weight or KPH values are all in the right range for milling wheat.