Two white clover, one red clover, two Italian rye-grass, and eight perennial rye-grass varieties have been added to the Recommended Grass and Clover Lists (RGCL) for England and Wales 2025/26.
The new varieties have been granted provisional recommended status after they showed a clear improvement compared with the varieties already on the lists.
The varieties were added to the list yesterday (Tuesday, June 10), following over six years of independent and rigorous testing at trial sites across England and Wales.
The grass and clover varieties were assessed under a range of conditions, covering both conservation and simulated grazing management systems.
These provisionally recommended varieties will be reassessed after five years.
If they continue to perform well, they will be recommended for general use and reviewed every four years, until they are outclassed by other varieties.
Forage crop specialist at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), Ellie Roberts, who coordinates the RGCL trial programme on behalf of the British Society of Plant Breeders, said:
“The RGCL is a mechanism that challenges breeders to continue developing grass and clover varieties with increased forage yield potential, nutritional quality, and nitrogen use efficiency.”
“With input from seed merchants, the lists can help farmers identify the best varieties and variety mixtures for specific farming systems while considering growing conditions, animal nutritional requirements and economic efficiency.”
New grass and clover varieties
The new grass and clover varieties are as follows:
- White clover varieties: Ruru; W140140;
- Red clover varieties: RGT Javva;
- Italian rye-grass varieties: Ascari (diploid); Glacomo (diploid).
- Intermediate perennial rye-grass varieties: Bartui (diploid); Castlewellan* (tetraploid).
- Late perennial rye-grass varieties: AberEsk (diploid); Angorat (diploid); Frogmore (diploid); Scartorp (diploid); AberLiffey (diploid); Ardress (tetraploid).
Unless stated, all varieties have been granted a provisional general use recommendation. Varieties marked with an asterisk (*) have been granted a provisional specific use recommendation.
Due to seed availability, not all new additions will be widely available initially.
