United Kingdom
June 10, 2025
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 for England and Wales 2025/26 (RGCL).
The thirteen new varieties add strength to the options available to farmers, as they continue to improve production efficiency, as well as environmental and economic sustainability.
The varieties were added following at least six years of independent and rigorous testing at trial sites across England and Wales, under a range of conditions, covering both conservation and simulated grazing management systems.
The trials assess many critical attributes, including seasonal growth and total annual yields, metabolisable energy (ME), ground cover, winter hardiness and disease resistance.
The new varieties have been granted provisional recommended status after they demonstrated a clear improvement compared with the varieties already on the lists.
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.
Ellie Roberts, Forage Crop Specialist at NIAB, who coordinates the RGCL trial programme on behalf of the British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB), 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 varieties on RGCL 2025/26
New white clover varieties
New red clover varieties
New Italian rye-grass varieties
- Ascari (diploid)
- Giacomo (diploid)
New intermediate perennial rye-grass varieties
- Bartui (diploid)
- Castlewellan* (tetraploid)
New 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 (PG) use recommendation. Varieties marked with an asterisk (*) have been granted a provisional specific (PS) use recommendation.
Due to seed availability, not all new additions will be widely available initially.
Further information
The RGCL 2025/26 publication provides technical information for each variety and general information to help manage reseeds and maximise sward productivity.
Visit the RGCL web page to download the RGCL 2025/26 publication or request a hard copy.
The online interactive version of the RGCL will be updated shortly.
RGCL is produced with support from the British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) and the British Grassland Society (BGS), in addition to the ruminant levy boards: the Agricultural and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC). Herbage trials are organised and coordinated by NIAB.
RGCL will also be available via britishgrassland.com/rgcl
Topics
Species
