A long-awaited winter wheat variety, newly awarded full Group 1 milling status, and which could hold strong appeal for growers looking to reduce some of the risks of growing wheat for breadmaking, is being launched for this autumn.

SY Cheer, the newest of only five Group 1 varieties on the 2024/25 AHDB winter wheat Recommended List (RL), has just been confirmed as a full Group 1 variety by UK Flour Millers, explains Matthew Bull, seeds technical manager for the variety’s breeder, Syngenta.

As well as bringing exceptional grain quality for growers, SY Cheer backs this up with consistent yields across the country and no major weaknesses to the common foliar wheat diseases, he says, including plugging an important gap against rust.

“The Group 1 winter wheat market hasn’t had a new recommended variety since 2017, and was in desperate need,” explains Mr Bull. “We see SY Cheer as a quality wheat made simple and expect it to gain significant interest, both from growers and millers.

“When grown for bread milling, its AHDB RL figure of 13% protein matches the threshold often required by millers. And its other quality characteristics on the independent AHDB RL, of 299 Hagberg and 79.5 kg/hl specific weight, far exceed the other typical requirements of 250 Hagberg and 76 kg/hl.

“Also for growers, SY Cheer brings disease resistance ratings of 7.4 against yellow rust and 6.0 against Septoria tritici on the AHDB RL, and 5.5 against brown rust. This balanced foliar disease resistance profile underpins its high and stable yields; it has the highest untreated yield figure among Group 1 varieties on the current AHDB winter wheat RL.”

Syngenta seeds portfolio marketing manager, Kathryn Hamlen, says the combination of quality, yield and disease resistance makes SY Cheer a potential breakthrough variety for growers.

“Over recent years the percentage of the UK wheat area planted with Group 1 varieties has dropped,” says Mrs Hamlen, “yet demand for Group 1 breadmaking wheat remains high. SY Cheer could reinvigorate the Group 1 market to help stabilise domestic production.

“We know that weather extremes can make achieving grain quality specifications a gamble. The high quality of SY Cheer will hopefully bring reassurance to growers. The wet 2023 harvest illustrated the importance of a variety with an inherently high Hagberg.

“Similarly, with unpredictable disease epidemics, its disease resistance ratings and high untreated yield should give reassurance. Rust can reduce both yield and quality.”

Agronomically, Mrs Hamlen says SY Cheer has wide drilling date flexibility from mid-September to late January, and offers good lodging resistance with relatively long straw and medium maturity.

“Overall, we see SY Cheer as a high quality variety for milling wheat growers to consider as part of their portfolio,” Mrs Hamlen adds.