DSV Champion has topped the Irish Department of Agriculture’s 2025 recommended list for winter wheat with a yield of 107% of controls, nearly 5% ahead of the average for the country’s currently recommended varieties.
Based on 2022, 2023 and 2024 data, not only was DSV Champion the highest yielding variety, it also scored higher scores for combined disease resistance and achieved better grain quality than its nearest yield competitor two percentage points behind it.
“With provisional scores of 8 for mildew, 6 for septoria, 7 for yellow rust and 6 for fusarium ear blight, DSV Champion’s agronomics are undisputably top tier,” says DSV’s Sarah Hawthorne.
“These beat its nearest yield rival with its scores 5, 6, 4 and 4 respectively for these key diseases, giving a combined score 19 compared to DSV Champion’s 27.
“This is consistent with the agronomic performance seen in the UK, both in official trials and on-farm, and underlines the variety’s remarkable combination of high yield potential and real world yield potential.
“It’s no wonder Champion currently holds the Guinness world record for wheat yield at 17.96t/ha and is the first choice variety for a growing number of UK and Irish producers.”
DSV Champion is no slouch when it comes to grain quality too, says Sarah Hawthorne.
“It has the same 10.1% grain protein as its nearest yield rival on the Irish RL, but with significantly better results for Hagberg falling number, 1000 grain weight and hectolitre weight.
“It’s a genuine all-round package and more than proves that modern genetics can deliver stand-out yields without this being at the expense of disease resistance or grain quality.”