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"Growers looking to increase yield, raise quality or secure a particular market can examine crop plots close up and get expert guidance at the same time," says event director Jon Day of Haymarket Exhibitions. "It's an ideal way to choose varieties that suit both farm and business plan."

HGCA has about 150 varieties of wheat, barley, oilseed rape and oats on display, including plenty of Recommended List (RL) candidate varieties for those looking further ahead.

Growers can join a guided tour or download commentary from the HGCA website. Specialists will also be available in the plots to discuss variety performance.  

NIAB TAG's variety plots feature 30 established and new winter wheats and 12 winter OSRs. A team of experts will be on hand to give advice and recommendations on all combinable crop varieties, including barley and pulses.

Three leading wheat varieties up for recommendation are included in Limagrain's plots. Evolution and Panacea are the top-yielding hard and soft Group 4 candidates respectively, while Zulu is equal highest yielding of the Group 3 hopefuls.

Visitors can also see new high-yielding feed barleys Cadillac, Cavalier and Harlequin. OSR growers can view RL newcomer Anastasia, which tops the North list, and East/West candidate Ventura, another conventional variety with high gross output potential and good disease resistance.

DuPont Pioneer is showing a range of new and leading winter OSR hybrids. PT211 is a stiff-strawed hybrid newly recommended on both East/West and North lists, while PT208 joins it in the North thanks to a gross output of 105% and good lodging resistance.

Semi-dwarf variety PX109 is a candidate for both regions. It has an East/West gross output yield of 104% and 7 for stem canker. Seed for autumn 2013 is available as it is for two more candidate varieties, PT229CL and PX111CL, both Clearfield hybrids.

DLF Trifolium is exhibiting seven OSR varieties. Six have been bred in the UK by independent breeder Mike Pickford, using classic conventional breeding techniques in the Cotswolds, and trialled at seven sites across Britain to ensure their suitability for conditions here.

Osprey and new variety Kite both consistently produce high farm yields (up to 5.8t/ha) with high oil contents (46%). Alongside these are five other varieties in official trials, including Advance and Sundance.

KWS UK is showing several newly recommended varieties at Cereals 2013. Barnfiller KWS Kielder is a hard Group 4 wheat rated 106 for yield. Leeds, a soft Group 4 matches that figure and offers distilling and uks export potential. KWS Croft tops the Group 3 section on the 2013/14 RL.

Winter barley KWS Glacier is the highest yielding recommended two-row winter variety. Two OSRs are also on show  - conventional Rivalda, recommended for the East/West region with a gross output of 103.2 and Quartz, which has exceptional stem canker resistance, rated 9.

Several candidate wheats include a couple of two Group 2 hopefuls. Frontrunner for yield is KWS Bonham, short and early with excellent grain quality. KWS Evoke has short stiff straw and strong resistance. Twister is a Group 4 soft wheat with Oakley-type yields and potential exporting and distilling outlets. Another Group 4, KWS Dali, showed excellent specific weight and good fusarium resistance in 2012.

RAGT is introducing varieties for the future including three candidate wheats for the 2014/15 RL. Skyfall, a short, stiff potential bread-maker has a treated yield of 101% and a consistently high Hagberg. It contains the Pch1 eyespot resistance gene and orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM) resistance, as does Icebreaker, a robust early driller with a 105% treated yield. Solace is short and early with outstanding disease resistance and good grain quality.

Ginfizz, RAGT's candidate OSR, has high yield, a strong disease profile and good oil content and has shown good consistency between seasons.

New hybrid barley Hyvido takes centre stage on Syngenta's stand. The variety has yielded over 1t/ha more than conventional barley in on-farm comparisons, and visitors can find out more about Syngenta's free optional yield guarantee.

Two newly recommended Group 3 winter wheats feature on Senova's stand. Monterey and Delphi have been bred independently by Blackman Agriculture for UK conditions and markets. Monterey, which has joined the RL with a yield of 102, tops the Group 3 list for specific weight, at 78.6kg/hl. Delphi, recommended for the east, matches Monterey's yield and has resistance to orange wheat blossom midge.

Yield-protecting traits are the focus at Dekalb, where thirteen hybrid varieties are displayed. Nine exhibit double phoma resistance, pod shatter resistance and vigorous establishment traits, providing a range of plant types to suit every farming system.

Four feature notably rapid autumn development, while three are of a more compact autumn type. Two are low biomass hybrids with the easy-to-manage semi-dwarf character. In addition, Dekalb is showing two Clearfield and two Vistive (specialist oil) varieties.

Visitors to DSV's stand can view newly recommended OSR Troy, the firm's first semi-dwarf, and Marathon, the highest yielder on the East/West RL. Incentive, a very high yielding 2014/15 candidate hybrid for both regions, is also on show, as is Meriva, a Clearfield variety in NL trials.

The firm is also highlighting two wheats. Newly recommended and very consistent Group 2 wheat Chilton has already received good backing from millers, while Dexter is a high yielding Group 3 prospect in NL2 trials.

Elsoms Seeds is launching five new varieties at Cereals this year. Its main focus is OSR RL candidate Trinity, a late-flowering, early maturing conventional variety that produces yields on a par with the leading hybrids.

Two linseed varieties are also being grown - high-yielding, early maturing Batsman and shorter, easier-to-harvest Bowler. In addition there are two cereals - Kereon, a new short, stiff and bold-grained winter triticale, and Weaver, a high yielding soft wheat approved for export and distilling that delivered a strong on-farm performance in 2012.
 

Cereals 2013 takes place on 12 and 13 June at Boothby Graffoe, Lincolnshire. Tickets cost £23 each (£19 for students) and visitors qualify for 2 NRoSO points and 4 BASIS points for attending either day. Further information at www.cerealsevent.co.uk