New crop of Group 2 varieties provide growers with a wider range of agronomic management tools
Group 2 winter wheats have become increasingly relevant as ‘agronomic tools’ in recent years, their growing popularity reflecting the increasing choice of varieties now available in this sector with KWS very much at the forefront of developments.
When it was introduced six years ago KWS Extase rewrote the rules for Group 2 winter wheats, being a high performing milling variety with the best septoria resistance and highest untreated yield on the Recommended List.
Six years on, where does it fit into the Group 2 equation and what do new varieties in this sector, such as the trio of newcomers from KWS Arnie, Equipe and Newbie, bring to rotations?
The AHDB Recommended List for 2025/26 includes several eye-catching additions which will have wide appeal, as well as new varieties that target regional and niche situations. UKFM Group 2, for example, sees five new additions, with various strengths and weaknesses to suit different situations.
“Group 2 varieties are becoming increasingly relevant as ‘agronomic tools’ rather than just as milling varieties,” Olivia Bacon, Product Manager – Wheat at KWS UK, states.
“To reflect that, KWS has invested heavily in its breeding programme to develop KWS Arnie, KWS Equipe and KWS Newbie, which are at the forefront of this category.”
Great all-rounder
KWS Arnie (KWS Zyatt x KWS Extase), is billed by KWS as being the all-round wheat which sets a new benchmark in its sector, bringing the best combination of consistently high yield, stem stiffness and earliness to the UK market, she explains.
"These characteristics will appeal to growers looking for a strong variety capable of exceptional yield performance. With outstanding disease resistance, it is the best-performing breadmaking variety in the second or more slot.
"A UKFM Group 2 with similar analytical qualities to KWS Extase, KWS Arnie has outstanding yield and market potential, its excellent grain quality including a Hagberg Falling Number of 287 and a specific weight of 79.1 kg/hl.
"The variety holds its own against top-performing hard feed wheats, with a treated yield on a par with market-leading options. UK yields are 4% above KWS Extase, with exceptional and consistent performances in the main wheat growing regions of the AHDB East (106%) and West (108%) over contrasting seasons.
KWS Arnie also has an impressive set of disease resistance scores which are the reason for its very high untreated yield of 87%, she explains.
"KWS Arnie's key characteristics include a very good Septoria tritici rating of 7.0, together with good yellow rust at 7 and a 5 for eyespot, which is better than KWS Extase.
"The variety’s sturdy plant type will appeal to many UK growers, as it develops rapidly in the autumn, tillers vigorously and has a prostrate overwinter growth habit, resulting in a resilient plant stand heading into spring.
"In addition, KWS Arnie has super stiff straw, with only 2% lodging recorded with and without PGR over the past two contrasting seasons, ensuring reliability and resilience.
The new KWS Extase?
KWS Equipe, a product of the company’s French plant breeding programme, incorporates all the features which have made KWS Extase so popular, but with better grain quality, higher yields and improved untreated yield, she adds.
"A UKFM Group 2 with UKP suitability, KWS Equipe is a cross between Extase and the French market leading variety, Chevignon.
"With very high yield potential, especially in the west at 105% of controls, KWS Equipe offers good yield potential on heavy soils and excellent grain quality, achieving [12.2%] protein, a very high Hagberg Falling Number of 305 and a specific weight of 79.5 kg/hl.
"The variety’s excellent disease package, which includes a 7.0 for Septoria, to date the highest figure on the Recommended List, resulting in an untreated yield of 92%, 1% higher than KWS Extase."
Offering the potential for a very early harvest, this fast-developing variety exhibits vigorous growth and has a prostrate habit overwinter, Olivia Bacon points out.
"We recommend that, like KWS Extase, growers do not drill KWS Equipe any earlier than the first week of October to maximise yield potential, although due to its early maturity and speed of growth mid-October is the optimal drilling window.
"At 94cm tall, KWS Equipe is 2cm taller than KWS Extase and despite having slightly stiffer straw than its parent would benefit from a robust PGR programme."
Northern star
KWS Newbie (KWS Zyatt x KWS W340) is an all-round wheat with excellent yield potential which ticks all the boxes for growers in the north. There, its combination of high yield, short straw (85cm - 6cm less than KWS Extase with similar stem stiffness) and early maturity (0 days compared to Skyfall) will help to ensure a safe harvest.
"A UKFM Group 2 with export opportunities, KWS Newbie is an all-round variety, with a very high Hagberg Falling Number of 305, 18 above KWS Extase, excellent specific weight of 78.4kg/hl and very high yield potential, in both the first and second wheat slots," Olivia explains.
"In the north, where it achieves [107%] of controls, the variety out-competes many northern feed favourites such as LG Skyscraper at 101% and Gleam at 103%.
"The variety’s untreated yield, 85% of treated controls, is on a par with KWS Palladium, while its very strong disease package, which has no major weaknesses, includes resistance scores of 6.2 for Septoria, 9 for yellow rust, 6 for brown rust and 6 for Fusarium.
"We advise that because of KWS Newbie’s fast-developing, high tillering plant type it should be sown from the end of September onwards to ensure full yield potential."
Focusing on KWS Arnie in Scotland and The North
Of the three new KWS Group 2 varieties on the 2025/26 Recommended List, Nicky Wilson, Regional Seeds Manager (Scotland) for Frontier Agriculture, is focusing on KWS Arnie.
“Our customers in Scotland and The North of England focus primarily on producing feed wheat. Although a Group 2, KWS Extase has been a mainstay for Frontier Agriculture since its launch in 2019 and the percentage grown for this market reflects the national trend," explains Nicky, who manages an area from the River Humber to the Black Isle
“KWS Arnie will be the best of the new KWS Group 2 varieties for growers in my region. It punches above its weight and has many positives.
"Unlike KWS Extase which should not be sown too early, KWS Arnie can go in early. It delivers a step up in terms of yield, combining a two per cent advantage over KWS Extase across the UK with good disease resistance and a quality aspect which makes it a good overall package.
"From what I have seen so far KWS Arnie has no real weaknesses, good straw strength, a very decent specific weight and will be one of the earliest varieties of winter wheat to harvest.
“With wheat prices currently less than inspiring growers are understandably keeping a close eye on production costs, at the same time as needing to protect their return on investment in the crop.
"With profit margins tight, minimising risk has become a major factor, so they need varieties which deliver reliable, consistent performance across all conditions and from season to season.
"KWS Extase is an excellent example of that and has been very reliable for the last six years, whether the season has been early or late, wet or dry, and through cold, hard winters."
With the range of new varieties on the latest Recommended List, growers are looking to take next step, she believes.
"With any new variety learning how to get the best out of it takes time, so customers are keen to explore the potential of newer, ‘cleaner’ options which incorporate improved genetics and may require less inputs, bring financial economies and take the pressure off spray timings.
“With very dry weather since February, towards the end of May we were seeing some very short, stressed crops which desperately need rain to avoid losing tillers and yield.
"KWS Arnie is looking very good across Frontier Agriculture’s replicated trial sites."
Varietal choice increasingly important
Until the EU legislated the withdrawal of Chlorothalonil in autumn 2019 this non-systemic broad-spectrum fungicide had provided an inexpensive backbone for controlling Septoria in wheat since the 1960s.
It was a significant setback which forced many growers to place greater emphasis on varietal resistance as a key tool for controlling this yield-robbing disease.
One of them was Heathcote Farms Ltd in Bedfordshire, which growers 1000 hectares of combinable crops, including 500ha of Group 1 and Group 2 winter wheat.
It also has 200ha of oilseed rape, 100ha of winter barley and 100ha of winter beans in the ground, the remaining cropped area being down to spring peas and spring oats.
The business farms a wide range of soils, mainly heavy clay but with areas of greensand, Denchworth Series and chalky loam, on land which extend up to 12km from its base at Herne Manor Farm, Toddington.
A key management aim has been to improve soil organic matter, so it has a straw-for-muck arrangement with another local farm and for many years applied compost made on-site from 12,000 tonnes of local authority green waste taken in annually and turned into a valuable soil conditioner.
The combination of increasing soil organic matter, incorporating chopped straw and using tracked machinery, including a 12m Claas Lexion 8800 combine, has significantly improved the soil structure and made the land much easier to work.
Heavy soils and hills still mean that it is very horsepower-hungry, so Heathcote Farms operates two Case IH QuadTrac tractors and uses a 6m Watkins Quad-till one pass cultivator, with the subsoiler tines running 20cm to 25cm deep and discs at 7.5cm to 10cm. Land is then rolled or a Vaderstad Rexius / Vaderstad Carrier used ahead of the 8m Vaderstad Rapid drill.
Second wheats increasingly important
Matt Fuller, who joined Heathcote Farms as a machinery operator in 2016 and became Arable and Trials Manager in 2023 explains that historically the business has only grown first wheats, but following a reduction in winter barley, which was grown to provide an early entry for oilseed rape, some second wheats now feature in the rotation.
“We can achieve good protein levels from G1 and G2 wheats,” Matt states. “The key is to choose high quality varieties which are agronomically sound, look after our soils, use biostimulants which boost biomass and root formation to maximise nutrient uptake, supported by techniques such as tissue testing to optimise crop management.
“Growing varieties with a range of maturity dates enables us to spread the workload in the autumn right through to harvest. Choosing those with an inherently high level of genetic resistance has become increasingly important to provide a sound basis for an effective disease control programme and high yields.”
The current season’s cropping at Heathcote Farms includes 500ha of winter wheat, which is split equally between G1 and G2 varieties, the aim being to achieve the 13% protein threshold wherever possible.
The former category comprises the new high-quality breadmaking variety KWS Vibe, which gained full G1 status ahead of the 2025 Recommended List being published, together with LG Crusoe, RGT Illustrious and some SY Cheer.
The majority of Heathcore Farms’ G2 area this season is into two varieties, with 100ha of KWS Extase and 50ha of KWS Equipe, both in a second wheat situation, Matt Fuller explains.
“We have had very good success with Group 2s and were one of the first farms to grow KWS Extase in 2017, the year before it first appeared on the Recommended List.
“Subsequently, it has become a key variety and provides a significant comfort factor because of its inherent genetic resistance.”
Extensive trials
In autumn 2018 Heathcote Farms drilled 7.5ha of KWS Extase, the only commercial crop that year, and included it in a trial alongside 22 other milling wheat varieties. The business had already decided to have a ‘no-Chlorothalonil’ area as one of the regimes, but following the EU’s decision that became much more important.
In the split field trial, the area where no chlorothalonil was applied yielded 11.56t/ha and the low input area 11.65t/ha, against the farm standard five-year average of 12.31t/ha, with everything measured to 14% moisture and weighbridge checked.
KWS Extase did not disappoint, yielding 11.9 – 12.6t/ha and producing an excellent milling sample which was sold to Heygates, Matt Fuller explains.
“The variety has provided a good example of our approach to selecting which ones to grow and has performed well, with good yields and protein, 12t/ha and over 13% in 2023.
"Its inherently high level of disease resistance provides greater flexibility in terms of application timings, which is a significant benefit now that farming by calendar is becoming more difficult and adverse conditions mean that often it is not possible to spray at the optimum time.
"KWS Extase’s strong overall disease package and ‘clean’ profile has also allowed us to reduce agchems, although that is not the main goal.
“We start drilling in September, so good resistance to Septoria, eyespot, yellow rust and brown rust are vital characteristics when selecting varieties.
"With the chemistry to control foliar diseases becoming more limited, less effective and increasingly expensive relative to grain prices is essential to only grow ‘clean’ varieties to avoid chasing diseases with the sprayer.
“Selecting those which produce high, consistent yields under our conditions also allows us to accurately tailor the amount that we invest in them. As part of that process we pay particular attention to how varieties perform in the Recommended List’s West area, where higher rainfall makes them more prone to these diseases."
Promising newcomers
The exceptionally wet conditions in October 2024, when 150mm fell in one weekend, meant that most of Heathcote Farms’ second wheats this season went in during the second week of November.
"Even when drilled as second wheats late in October both KWS Extase and KWS Equipe produce significant biomass. We are also looking at KWS Arnie in trials run in conjunction with Openfield this year.
“KWS Extase and KWS Equipe both look very promising in our situation, have good Septoria resistance and if they can achieve 12.5% protein will meet the requirements of a mix of end customers.
“KWS Arnie performed well with very little yield drop in a second cereal situation, so this season we have 5ha of the variety.
“We were pleased with how KWS Arnie established after it was drilled on 14 November at 400/m2, also how well and clean it looked through the spring, its fast-tillering habit helping to smother any grassweeds and reduce competition with the crop.
"The plan is to run variable-rate Nitrogen trials, with a base application of 240kgN/ha on half the area and on the remainder supplement that with Chafer Nufol 20 (20%N) as a late foliar spray in June to increase grain protein.
“The hope now is that KWS Arnie will continue to thrive through the remainder of the season and produce good yield and quality at harvest to support our initial impression that it has the potential to eventually replace KWS Extase.
"We expect it to do well again and if that is the case we are likely to have a full 100ha block next season.”
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