Seed Industry

SY SIGNET – The New Spring Barley With Different Market Options

23 January 2025, UK: SY SIGNET first joined the AHDB Recommended List in autumn 2022 and currently has Provisional MBC Approval for Brewing. SY SIGNET is now entering the final stages of its MBC pilot testing, targeting Full MBC Approval for Brewing in 2025.

While dual-purpose varieties, such as LAUREATE, increasingly make up the largest proportion of the malting market, there is still significant demand from certain maltsters for brewing only varieties across key regions of England.

For those growers looking to serve this sector of the malting market, the new variety SY SIGNET is certainly worth a closer look. 

SY SIGNET is well suited for malting growers in East Anglia, the area where we can also expect the majority of the brewing contacts to be available. Yield performance in AHDB RL trials have been especially strong in the Eastern region of the UK as demonstrated in the graph below, with treated yields above that of all Fully MBC Approved varieties for Brewing. 

For the brewer, the very high Hot Water Extract of SY SIGNET also brings significant benefits in terms of overall alcohol yield.

Source: AHDB Recommended List 2025, SY SIGNET compared to all varieties with Full MBC Approval for Brewing.

However, for many growers the benefits of SY SIGNET will extend its appeal beyond that of just the malting market. 

In addition to high yields, SY SIGNET offers growers a robust agronomic package combined with good grain quality making it a sound choice not only as a malting barley, but for feed growers too – whatever region you are farming in.

Here is the latest SY SIGNET RL data in more detail:

  • UK treated yield 101.8%, higher than all fully MBC approved brewing varieties on the AHDB 2025 RL
  • Strong untreated yields at 87% (as % of treated controls)
  • Robust disease package including an 8 for Mildew, 5 for Brown Rust, 5 for Rhynchosporium and 6 for Net Blotch
  • Excellent straw with a high [7] rating for lodging and 7 rating for brackling
  • Solid grain quality including a specific weight of 68.0 kg/hl
  • The third highest Hot Water Extract figure on the 2025 AHDB RL (314.9 l deg/kg) when compared to all fully or provisionally MBC approved brewing varieties

The strong UK performance of SY SIGNET is also now becoming evident across wider environments. Having been tested in the Syngenta pan-European trialling network, the wider potential of SY SIGNET outside the UK was identified. SY SIGNET has demonstrated its wide adaptability across several Nordic countries and is now beginning to create interest from customers in those regions. This should hopefully allow the development of an export market for the variety in due course offering UK growers a further potential outlet for their grain.

SY SIGNET is an exciting new variety in the extensive Syngenta portfolio offering high yields in combination with strong farmer focused agronomics and an excellent malting profile for those targeting the brewing market.

Why not a take a closer look at what SY SIGNET could offer you? For more information please click here. 

As with all new varieties, it is important to always check the availability of local contracts before growing the variety for malting. 

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