How maize list overhaul helps variety choice for 2027

The British Society of Plant Breeders Forage Maize Descriptive Lists have been redesigned for the 2027 growing season, making it easier for growers to identify varieties suited to their farm and growing conditions.

This new approach replaces the previous classification of varieties according to favourable, very favourable and less favourable sites.

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For 2027, the varieties are presented in four Lists, based on both maturity and overall variety performance:

• Short-Mid Season – first choice
• Short-Mid Season – second choice
• Mid-Long Season – first choice
• Mid-Long Season – second choice

BSPB says there is a small overlap between the Short-Mid and Mid-Long Season Lists to help growers compare varieties around the boundaries of each maturity group.

The change follows a review of the BSPB maize trial programme, which considered how consistently trial sites could be classified according to growing conditions, explains Ellie Roberts, Niab forage crop specialist and Maize DL Trials programme co-ordinator.

Increasingly variable weather in recent years has highlighted the difficulty of defining sites simply as favourable or less favourable, with conditions varying significantly between seasons and influencing trial performance.

Rather than attempting to predict performance from a site’s classification, the revised approach analyses variety performance across all conditions and the full network of 13 BSPB trials.

This provides a more robust indication of how varieties are likely to perform across the wide range of growing conditions experienced by UK maize growers.

For growers, the new format provides a clearer starting point for variety selection, allowing them to first consider the maturity required for their farm and target harvest date, and then compare the performance of first and second choice varieties within that maturity group.

“The new Descriptive Lists are designed to make variety selection more straightforward for growers, while ensuring the data behind them reflects performance across a wide range of UK growing conditions.”

New varieties added for 2027

Ten new varieties have been added to the BSPB Forage Maize Descriptive Lists for 2027.

• The new entrants to the Short-Mid Season DL are: Giso (KWS), Duxxford (RAGT), Highlight (Limagrain), Katelego (KWS) and Marcopolo (KWS).
• The additions to the Mid-Long Season DL are: DKC2644 (Bayer), Wesley (Grainseed), Pluvio (KWS), Revelation (Grainseed) and Norento (KWS).

The BSPB 2027 Forage Maize Descriptive Lists are available to download from the BSPB and Niab websites.