7 first choice varieties added to British maize list
Seven new first-choice varieties and one second-choice variety have been added to the British Society of Plant Breeder’s forage maize descriptive list.
NIAB’s forage crop specialist Ellie Sweetman said that Cito KWS is the earliest maturing, with Cranberri CS the latest maturing.
Ms Sweetman added: “Cranberri CS is latest maturing, whilst achieving a very good dry matter yield of 18.3t/ha and good cell wall digestibility at 58.5%.
Pinnacle provides a very good ME and starch content for its high dry matter, with a good eye spot rating. Expedia has very good standing power, whilst providing good yields with good ME and starch levels.”
Ms Sweetman recommended Madonias as a good all-rounder, providing good ME and starch for mid-range maturity.
See also: Maize Watch: Attention to minimising losses needed at clamping
Advice on picking your variety
- High ME: More digestible than those with lower scores, resulting in faster rumen throughput, allowing for increased voluntary feed intake and improved feed conversion
- Cell wall digestibility: High digestibility can help support butterfat levels in dairy cows
- Starch: High starch can reduce requirements for concentrate feeds, making a cost-effective option for beef producers
|
Attribute |
Variety |
Dry matter (DM t/ha) |
MJ/kg DM |
Starch |
|
Earliest maturing |
Cito KWS |
37.4% (15.9) |
11.82 |
37.6% |
|
Latest maturing
|
Cranberri CS |
29.5% (18.3) |
11.32 |
28.2% |
|
Highest dry matter
|
LG31218 |
30.5% (18.7) |
11.6 |
29.5% |
|
Best all-rounders |
Avitus KWS |
35.5% (18.5) |
11.63 |
36.1% |
|
|
Madonias |
33.3% (17.7) |
11.51 |
34.1% |
|
Good ME, starch and DM |
Pinnacle |
34.3% (18.1) |
11.75 |
35.9% |
|
Standing power |
Expedia |
30.7% (18.2) |
11.6 |
31.3% |
For less-favourable sites
Ms Sweetman said growers should be looking for early vigour in challenging conditions, often an undervalued attribute.
In addition, plants will need to produce highly digestible, good quality forage, with four of the new varieties being “good all-rounders” with yield potentials of 16.1-18.4t DM/ha.
Cito, Avitus, Madonias and Pinnacle have been added to the first choice less-favourable list, with Pinnacle showing very good eyespot resistance compared with others on the list.
“This is a valuable asset in susceptible areas during normal growing conditions,” added Ms Sweetman.