With a steady stream of exciting new varieties coming onto the AHDB Recommended List, it can be easy to overlook the proven performers that have stood the test of time.
Yet, for many UK growers, KWS Extase and KWS Dawsum remain the bases of their rotations, valued not just for their yield and quality, but for the consistency and security they bring in challenging seasons.
When it was launched six years ago, Group 2 milling wheat KWS Extase changed expectations, explains Olivia Bacon, wheat product manager for KWS UK.
"KWS Extase was a high-yielding, high-quality variety with the best septoria resistance and highest untreated yield on the Recommended List.
"Today, despite competition from a new wave of Group 2s such as KWS Arnie, KWS Equipe and KWS Newbie, Extase still earns its place on farm.
"It's an excellent example of a variety that 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."
For Bedfordshire-based Heathcote Farms, KWS Extase has provided both reliability and flexibility.
Arable and trials manager Matt Fuller says: "We were one of the first farms to grow KWS Extase in 2017, the year before it first appeared on the Recommended List.
"It has since become a key variety and provides a significant comfort factor because of its inherent genetic resistance".
The farm's split-field trials confirmed Extase's credentials. "The variety has performed well, with good yields and protein, 12t/ha and over 13% in 2023," adds Matt.
"It's inherently high level of disease resistance also provides greater flexibility in terms of application timings, which is a significant benefit now that farming by calendar is becoming more difficult."
The ability to combine marketable grain quality with built in agronomic security has ensured Extase remains relevant, even as newer Group 2s emerge with incremental gains in yield or protein.
Dawsum, the "classic barn-filler"
In the feed wheat sector, Group 4 hard variety KWS Dawsum has earned a similar reputation for consistency and security. Launched as a variety that could deliver across soil types, drilling windows and regions, Dawsum continues to be widely grown.
KWS Dawsum provides an exceptional combination of yield, grain quality, disease resistance and performance anywhere in the rotation, Olivia says.
"A classic hard Group 4 barn filler, Dawsum meets and exceeds the intake requirements of the animal feed sector, while its Hagberg Falling Number (310) may find favour with flour millers."
With a shorter straw, high tillering capacity and excellent standing power, Dawsum is also straightforward to manage. Its specific weight of 79.9kg/hl gives growers added security at harvest, especially in seasons when bushel weights are under pressure.
For seed merchants such as Wynnstay, Dawsum remains a reliable choice.
"When a Group 4 variety is established on farm and performs consistently it tends to remain a key choice for probably three to five years, as is the case with KWS Dawsum," says Wynnstay head of arable Matt Shand.
"The key selling point at the time of launch was its specific weight and yield potential which, alongside disease resistance, remain key drivers in terms of overall market demand".
Old and new working together
While Extase and Dawsum continue to prove their worth, KWS is clear that their role is increasingly about complementing the next generation of wheats.
"With profit margins tight, minimising risk has become a major factor, so growers need varieties which deliver reliable, consistent performance across all conditions and from season to season," adds Frontier's Nicky Wilson.
"KWS Extase is an excellent example of that. With the range of new varieties on the latest Recommended List, growers are looking to take the next step".
Similarly, in Group 4s, the arrival of top-yielding KWS Scope brings new genetics, but KWS believes it sits alongside rather than replaces Dawsum.
"Where high yields are the goal KWS Scope makes an ideal partner for KWS Dawsum for large-scale Group 4 growers who are looking to spread risk in their portfolio of varieties," says Olivia Bacon.
Proven performance in uncertain times
For all the promise of new genetics, growers still value the security of established varieties. Extase and Dawsum have both shown they can handle weather extremes, disease pressure and different rotational slots without letting growers down.
As James Webster-Rusk of The Andersons Centre points out: "Varieties with high yield potential, good disease resistance, consistency from season to season are must-haves for growers".
By that measure, KWS Extase and KWS Dawsum remain very much part of the modern wheat equation, trusted performers that continue to deliver while the next generation proves its worth.
Learn more about KWS Dawsum and KWS Extase
