Senova’s new husked winter oat variety, Cromwell, has been added to the AHDB Recommended List 2023/24, bringing the much-needed combination of high yields and superb grain quality.
With a yield of 102, Cromwell has a 7% advantage over the current market favourite, Mascani, which has stood the test of time and performed consistently on the farm and in the mill for the last eighteen years.
Cromwell’s recommendation will bring more choice to oat growers and reduce the industry’s reliance on one mainstream variety, believes Senova, as the newcomer has already gone through mills successfully and done well in the field.
With a specific weight of 55.3kg/hl and a kernel content of 74.9%, Cromwell has the grain quality and milling characteristics that more recent winter oat variety introductions have lacked, which is why its recommendation is being so well received.
Short stiff straw
It is also very short and stiff, with a straw length of 103cm and an 8 for lodging – the highest standing ability of the winter oat varieties.
Slightly later to mature than Mascani, Cromwell is a +1 for ripening and has screenings of 5.7% – a figure which is likely to have been affected by the very hot, dry summer of 2022.
It has disease resistance ratings of 5 for crown rust and 3 for mildew.
Bred by IBERS, Cromwell is a Mascani cross, so brings the benefits of a proven pedigree to the market, at a time when the profitable low input break crop is seen as a key component of sustainable rotations.
“We are delighted that Cromwell has achieved recommendation and consider it to be a very timely addition to the list,” says Tom Yewbrey of Senova.
“While Mascani will continue to be a popular choice, there are advantages in having more than one variety that both millers and growers have faith in.”
Oat markets continue to go from strength to strength, adds Mr Yewbrey, with development work being carried out by researchers and food manufacturers into alternative and emerging oat markets.
“We now see oats being eaten at different times of day to just the traditional breakfast occasion,” he says. “There is a vast array of products that use milled oats, from health and convenience foods to free-from choices and dairy substitutes.
“No wonder there is so much interest in Cromwell and what it has to offer.”
