Sparkler, a new Group 4 winter wheat has joined the 2026/27 Recommended List as the highest yielding UK soft feed variety.

Kurtis Scarboro, crop manager for Elsoms Seeds, says with a powerful genetic background combining Graham and LG Skyscraper in its parentage, Sparkler offers growers the benefits of both a very high treated and untreated yield.

“Historically, Graham performed very strongly in the West, while Skyscraper dominated the North of England and Scotland for many years. So, we’re excited to see Sparkler continue that impressive lineage in both those key regions and throughout the rest of the UK.”

Sparkler’s septoria resistance scores an impressive 7.2, he adds. “This gives it the second highest septoria score on the RL behind another Elsoms variety, Mayflower. A 7 for yellow rust was also excellent in a year when high disease pressure led to many varieties being downgraded.”

With a wide marketability, based on both its suitability for UK distilling and recent approval for UKS export, Sparkler should have an advantage over other Group 4 soft wheats, suggests Kurtis.

“On alcohol yields, across three years of testing, it’s been rated as high for its distilling quality, significantly outperforming the mean of controls. It also has exceptional early vigour, a good specific weight of 76.7kg/hl, plus a high tillering capacity enabling it to produce a lot of straw. Sparkler possesses a strong list of desirable agronomic traits.”

Farmer testimonial

Supporting the AHDB’s recommendation on Sparkler is Lincolnshire-based arable farmer, Vic Barker, who farms 222ha on soils ranging from heavy loam to light silt loam.

Vic had an early opportunity to evaluate the variety and was impressed with its performance during a very challenging season. “We drilled 6ha of Sparkler at a seed rate of 175kg/ha in early December 2024 into two fields following crops of cabbages and parsnips.

“Establishing well, the crop showed tremendous early vigour, wintered well, then kicked on again in early spring following its first split of nitrogen applied at a rate of 80kgN/ha on 3 March.

“The variety was straightforward to manage, fitting nicely into our normal spray pattern and all went smoothly through spring and early summer. Harvesting in the second week of August, Sparkler was our highest yielding winter wheat from five varieties grown in 2025, recording an average yield of 9.76t/ha – a great result given the near drought conditions,” explains Vic.

In terms of initial observations, he adds that its ability to get away quickly could potentially make Sparkler a good variety for late drilling. “It tillered well, producing a lot of straw and coped better with the dry conditions than some of our other varieties.

“For Harvest 2026 we’ve gone with an earlier drilling date and increased our area to 10ha. Assuming different weather challenges next year, I’m sure we’ll know a lot more about Sparkler by next harvest. It’s early days, but I certainly like what I’ve seen so far and its inclusion on the new RL looks fully justified,” he concludes.

Distilling potential

Nick Pitts, supply chain sustainability manager at the Scottish Whisky Research Institute (SWRI) has also been testing Sparkler in recent months.

“We run a comprehensive testing programme covering all stages of whisky production; from raw materials like wheat and barley to bottling, ensuring long-term sustainability. We also have a key role in supporting the AHDB’s RL trials by evaluating soft wheat varieties for distilling quality. SWRI is the sole provider of this data throughout the National List testing process.

“Distilling quality assessments focus on alcohol yield and residue viscosity measurements; wheats with high alcohol yield and low viscosity over multiple years are rated ‘high,’ acceptable distilling quality is rated ‘medium’, while those with poor performance or processing issues are rated ‘low.’

“Distillers prefer soft wheats of at least ‘medium’ quality, so the addition of Sparkler to the RL as a ‘high’ distilling variety is welcome. It’s consistently delivered high alcohol yields during testing, offering farmers and distillers a strong option for grain distilling,” he concludes.