Abstract ‘VT Beahm’ (Reg. no CV‐384, PI 702638) is an awnless, six‐row barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar with a winter growth habit. VT Beahm was released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station in May 2021. Prior to being named, VT Beahm was tested under the experimental designation VA16BFHB‐268 NA. VT Beahm was evaluated from 2020 to 2022 at four to six locations in the Virginia Tech Official Variety Trial. Compared with commercial cultivars, the mean grain yield (3755 kg ha −1 ) of VT Beahm was similar to that of ‘Nomini’ but lower than that of ‘Secretariat’, ‘Thoroughbred’, and ‘Flavia’. The average grain volume weight of VT Beahm (63.3 kg hL −1 ) was significantly ( p ≤ 0.05) higher than that of Nomini, but lower than that of the other commercial cultivars. Head emergence of VT Beahm was similar to that of Nomini and Secretariat and 6 and 10 days earlier than that of Thoroughbred and Flavia, respectively. VT Beahm was developed primarily as a replacement for the barley cultivar Nomini. VT Beahm provides barley producers and end users in the Eastern United States with acceptable forage quality and moderate‐to‐high levels of resistance to prevalent diseases, including Fusarium head blight. Forage evaluation results showed acceptable quality profiles with specific quality traits, including high crude protein and dry matter content for the years tested. VT Beahm is a good winter forage barley cultivar best adapted to the Mid‐Atlantic and Southeastern U.S. regions. VT Beahm will provide producers and farmers in Virginia and neighboring states with a viable alternative to the currently grown commercial forage winter barley cultivars.

'Avalon' (Reg. no. CV-383, PI 700308) is the first two-row, winter malt barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar developed by the Virginia Agricultural Experimental Station. Avalon was released in May 2020. Prior to being named, Avalon was tested under the experimental designation VA16M-81. Avalon was evaluated from 2018 to 2023 in the Eastern Malt Barley Trials (EMBT) at one to three locations in three states and in the Winter Malt Barley Trial (WMBT) from 2020 to 2023 in six to 15 states. In the EMBT in Virginia, mean grain yield (5604 kg ha-1) of Avalon was higher to cultivar 'Violetta', but lower than those of 'Flavia', 'Calypso', and 'Thoroughbred'. Average grain volume weight of Avalon (64.9 kg hL-1) was significantly (P <= 0.05) higher than the check cultivars, except Violetta. Head emergence of Avalon was 3 days earlier than Flavia and Calypso and 1 to 2 days later than Violetta and Thoroughbred, respectively. Avalon was developed primarily as a malt barley cultivar. On the basis of malting evaluations, Avalon has acceptable quality profiles with specific quality traits including high extract, low protein content, and low beta-glucan for the years tested. Avalon provides malt barley producers and end users in the eastern United States with excellent malt quality and a unique and distinct flavor profile having good to moderate resistance to all diseases prevalent in the eastern United States. It is moderately susceptible to Fusarium head blight but has moderately low deoxynivalenol accumulation in the grain.

'Hardy 2519' (Reg. no. CV-1189, PI 692613), a hard red winter (HRW) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar, was derived from the cross VA06HRW-108 x 'Vision 30' (PI 661153) using a modified bulk breeding method. Hardy 2519 was tested as VA14HRW-25 in replicated yield trials in Virginia (2015-2018) and in the USDA-ARS Uniform Bread Wheat Trials (2016-2018) and released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station in 2019. Hardy 2519 is a widely adapted, high-yielding HRW wheat with 2*, 5+10 gluten subunits. Hardy 2519 is awned, semidwarf (Rht 2 gene) with medium spike emergence, resistant to leaf rust, and moderately resistant to powdery mildew in the mid-Atlantic region. In the Virginia Bread Wheat Elite Trials from 2018 to 2020, Hardy 2519 produced a mean yield of 5,393 kg ha(-1), which was similar to that of the HRW wheat cultivar 'Vision 45' (PI 667642) at 5,267 kg ha(-1). Hardy 2519 has acceptable milling and baking quality on the basis of comparisons with the HRW wheat check cultivar 'Jagger'.

'SB255' (Reg. no. CV-373, PI 693987) is a six-rowed hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar with winter growth habit. The cultivar was released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station in May 2019. SB255 is widely adapted, high yielding, high grain volume weight, and medium tall. It has good winterhardiness and good straw strength. The spikes of SB255 are strap and slightly waxy with no overlapping lateral kernels and with long awns. Prior to being named, SB255 was tested under the experimental designation VA11B-141 (LA). It was derived from the cross Spont03-44/VA01B-44 and developed using a modified-bulk breeding method. It was evaluated from 2013 to 2019 in the Virginia Official Variety Trials at five to six locations. SB255's average grain yield (5,214 kg ha(-1)) was similar to the check cultivars 'Secretariat' and 'Thoroughbred' but significantly (P <= .05) higher than 'Atlantic', 'Price', 'Callao', 'Nomini', and 'Wysor'. Average grain volume weight of SB255 (60.8 kg hL(-1)) was similar to Secretariat and Price but exceeded (P <= 0.05) those of Thoroughbred, Atlantic, Callao, Nomini, and Wysor. Head emergence of SB255 was similar to Thoroughbred and 2-5 d later than winter feed barley cultivars Secretariat, Atlantic, Price, Callao, and Nomini. SB255 was developed primarily as a feed barley cultivar. It provides barley producers and end users in the eastern United States with a high-grain-yielding cultivar having good to moderate resistance to all diseases prevalent in the eastern United States, including Fusarium head blight (FHB), and also lower deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation in the grain.

'Hilliard' (Reg. no. CV-1163, PI 676271), a soft red winter (SRW) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) developed and tested as VA11W-108 by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, was released in March 2015. Hilliard was derived from the cross '25R47'/'Jamestown'. Hilliard is widely adapted, from Texas to Ontario, Canada, and provides producers with a mid-season, medium height, awned, semi-dwarf (Rht2) cul tivar that has very high yield potential, good straw strength, and intermediate grain volume weight and quality. It expresses moderate to high levels of resistance to most diseases prevalent in the eastern United States and Ontario. In the 2016-2018 USDA-ARS Uniform SRW Wheat nurseries, Hilliard ranked first in grain yield in the southern nursery across all 3 yr (5,147-5,758 kg ha(-1)). In the uniform eastern nursery, it ranked first for grain yield in 2016 (6,159 kg ha(-1)) and 2017 (5,633 kg ha(-1)) and second in 2018 (5,515 kg ha(-1)). Grain volume weights of Hilliard were similar to overall trial averages in the uniform southern (73.4-75.2 kg hl(-1)) and eastern (70-75.8 kg hl(-1)) nurseries. Hilliard has soft grain texture with flour softness equivalent values varying from 58.1 to 61.7 g 100 g(-1). Straight grade flour yields on a Quadrumat Senior mill varied from 66.8 to 68.4 g kg(-1). Flour protein concentration varied from 7.0 to 9.1 g 100 g(-1) and gluten strength from 108 to 128 g 100 g(-1), as measured by lactic acid solvent retention capacity. Cookie spread diameter varied from 18.3 to 18.6 cm.