AHDB will showcase how varieties make it onto the Recommended Lists for cereals and oilseeds (RL) at a winter wheat trial site in Norfolk. Levy payers will be able to follow the entire process, from planting to next year's harvest, with ongoing expert site commentary.

The winter wheat on trial initiative is taking place in response to the most recent RL review, in which levy payers asked for more information about the variety trials.

Located near The Wash, the trial is one of 31 dedicated UK winter wheat fungicide-treated yield trials sown for harvest 2025. The trial site features 35 recommended and 15 candidate varieties, replicated three times across 150 variety plots.

AHDB Recommended Lists (RL) Manager Paul Gosling said: "We are telling the story of how we grow one of the UK's most complex winter wheat crops. From deciding which varieties to sow to recommendation decisions, we will bring the processes that underpin the RL trial system to life. It will give RL users greater confidence in the data and a better understanding of why we take certain approaches."

Several tillage operations (subsoiling, tine cultivations and power harrowing) were carried out on the site's silty soils before the trial was planted on 7 October 2024.

In the first few months, the initiative will focus on how varieties are selected for drilling and the approach taken to design and establish the trials.

The initiative will also describe:

• Trial agronomy
• Trial assessment and harvest
• How trial data is used to make recommendation decisions

Mark Bollebakker, a Senior Field Trials Manager at AHDB, will provide site commentary throughout the growing season, with an initial video that provides an overview of the site already available to view.

A dedicated web page features initial information, including graphics that show how winter wheat sites are distributed across the UK and how the trials are set up: ahdb.org.uk/rl-trials