Resilient Group 4 wheat impresses despite prolonged summer drought

In its first year since joining the Recommended List (RL) in December 2025, high yielding Soft wheat Sparkler has reaffirmed its early promise shown in NL trials last year by delivering a series of excellent performances for first time growers whilst displaying many of its strong agronomic traits.

In another season defined by prolonged summer heat, near drought conditions and incredibly early harvests, three farmers from across the UK review their experience with the UK’s highest yielding Soft wheat as they look ahead to autumn drilling.

Andrew Dalton, based near Bridgnorth in Shropshire, grew just over 8ha of Sparkler drilled on September 19^th at a seed rate of 115kg/ha. 

He says” Last autumn’s drilling conditions were excellent and the crop established really well. Applying a basic pre-emergence tank mix of Flufenacet + Diflufenican (DFF), we followed up with a post-emergence spray of Pyraflufen-ethyl plus an aphicide as Sparkler tillered out really well - despite the relatively low seed rate.

“Sparkler looked robust through winter and into early spring, receiving a conventional 4-spray fungicide programme with no interim rust sprays required.

 “Overall, I would say it was pretty straightforward to manage despite the presence of yellow rust in our crops. It stood well, remaining pretty clean throughout the year, and kept its green leaf a bit longer than the other wheats we’d drilled around the same time.

 “Harvesting on July 22^nd, Sparkler averaged a respectable 8.65t/ha making it our highest yielding winter wheat. Successfully overcoming the hot, near drought conditions from May - July and, despite being grown on light land, it showed excellent resilience. I will be increasing my area to 40ha this autumn” he concludes.

Farming in the Vale of Belvoir, near Grantham in West Lincolnshire, Paul Sheardown drilled 20ha of Sparkler as a first wheat following maize on September 27^th at a seed rate of 146kg/ha into a blue lias clay soil.

Paul adds” We grew 4 winter wheats in total this year ; Arnie, Scope , Champion and Sparkler. All established well last autumn, coping well with the surface ponding that we often experience when conditions get extremely wet through winter and early spring.

“Going into spring we observed that Sparkler had a noticeably slower growth habit than some of our other wheats. However, it looked healthy, robust and clean so there were no major concerns.

“Remaining clean through late spring, we didn’t see any Septoria or rust in the Sparkler crop. Although, given it was a new variety for us, we didn’t really take any chances by maintaining a robust fungicide programme.

“Two splits of N, totalling 220kg/ha, were applied on March 10^th and April 4^th respectively, and, at that stage, all our winter wheats were looking really good.

“Through April, May and June the previously ‘excellent growing conditions ’ came to a dramatic halt when the long dry spell began. During the next 4 months, from March 16^th to mid-July, we received only 72mm of rain whereas our average rainfall is normally 50-60mm per month. As a consequence, this resulted in our earliest harvest ever, with Sparkler (the last variety to be cut on July 16^th) achieving 8.3t/ha and becoming our highest yielding winter wheat by around 0.5t/ha.

“Of the 4 varieties we grew, Sparkler never looked the best variety at any stage. However, at the weighbridge, where it really counts, it delivered on the old adage of ‘looks for show, yield for dough’ and, on that basis, we will certainly grow it again” he concludes.  

Over in Ledbury, Herefordshire, Ruth Gilder grew 12.6ha of Sparkler as a first wheat following a crop of turnip seed.

Ruth says” Drilling on September 25^th, into a medium grade 2 loam, Sparkler got away well, tillered out nicely and looked very clean throughout a mild, wet winter and early spring.  Adding to the pressure of the extended dry conditions through late spring and summer, we also had to deal with an outbreak of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) this year resulting from our entry into an SFI option that doesn’t permit the use of an insecticide. What had started out so well, quickly became a very challenging season.

“On the plus side, we had absolutely no BYDV issues with Sparkler. It stood well through the season, handled the extended drought particularly well through May and June and was definitely one of our easiest varieties to manage with no eventual requirement for a T3 spray.

“By mid-July, with no rain in sight, we were forced into one of our earliest ever harvests. Cut on July 21^st, Sparkler achieved average yields of 7.14t/ha – inline with, if not slightly better than, the 3 other wheats we grew this season.

“Leaving aside the general disappointment on all the yields this year due to the exceptionally hot, dry conditions, Sparkler showed great resilience in overcoming both yellow rust and BYDV, making it one of our cleanest crops. It coped better with the dry conditions than most of our other wheats and was consequently one of our last crops to be cut. All in all, it looks a very strong addition to the Group 4 list” she concludes.