Winter Barley
Winter Barley Recommended Varieties
Winter barley is an essential part of the winter crop rotation on Irish tillage farms. Winter barley is important to spread workload during harvest time, into autumn drilling, and again in early spring. Growers also value the straw from winter barley and its ability to produce a profitable yield in take-all situations.
Seedtech continues to bring new varieties to market with advances in genetics, such as ORCADE a new 2 row with unique BYDV tolerance, KWS JOYAU, a conventional 6 row with BYDV tolerance also helps reduce BYDV risk for growers.
Strong results for Seedtech winter barley varieties
The 2027 Winter Barley Recommended List delivers particularly strong results for Seedtech, with SY Canyon achieving a relative yield rating of 105 – the highest on the 2027 winter barley list. SY Kestrel also joins the list as a new Provisionally Recommended variety, with a relative yield rating of 103.
SY Canyon is an early-maturing six-row hybrid with high yield potential. It has very good resistance to mildew, good resistance to brown rust and moderate resistance to Rhynchosporium and net blotch, alongside very good grain quality.
SY Kestrel is a BYDV resistant early-maturing six-row hybrid with high yield potential. It offers good resistance to mildew and very good resistance to Rhynchosporium and net blotch. SY KESTREL is the first cereal on the Irish market with a breeder claim for resistance to Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV).
ORCADE is the most popular 2-row winter barley on the 2027 Recommended List and performed well on farm in 2026. ORCADE is BYDV tolerant and has the biggest grain of all the winter barleys making it ideal for rolling and feeding. ORCADE has excellent disease resistance helping it produce a lovely golden swarth of straw, which has been commented on by many farmers.
KWS JOYAU is a BYDV tolerant 6-row conventional and has been widely grown in Ireland over the past five years. KWS JOYAU has the stiffest straw of all the barley’s on the list and it has proven in trials and on farm to be very suitable to Ireland.
Dr. Tim O’Donovan, commented “The 2027 Recommended Lists demonstrate the progress being made in breeding varieties that combine yield with the agronomic characteristics growers need in the field. Seedtech are delighted to offer farmers BYDV protection in all three categories of barley, namely hybrids, 2-rows and 6-row conventional making it an easy decision to remove the threat of BYDV from their winter barley crops for harvest 2027.
Winter Barley
Hybrid Winter Barley
Winter Barley
KWS JOYAU is a unique 6-row conventional winter barley with BYDV tolerance genes. It tolerates BYDV infection. UK research shows KWS JOYAU performance is not affected by BYDV virus. An early maturing variety which helps to spread out the harvest workload.
Specialist Malting Winter Barley
Winter malting barley is a relatively new crop in Ireland, and Seedtech has been developing suitable varieties and agronomy advice in conjunction with Boortmalt and Teagasc. As a result, malting barley is increasing in area and value. Having some of your malting contract area drilled in autumn and harvested in July is a huge bonus to spreading work and risk for growers and maltsters, making it more sustainable for the whole industry.