New maize Descriptive Lists make variety choice easier for 2027

The British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) has introduced a new approach to its Forage Maize Descriptive Lists (DL), replacing the previous classification of varieties according to favourable, very favourable and less favourable sites.

For 2027, the varieties are now 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

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. 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.

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 include KWS Giso (KWS), RGT Duxxford (RAGT), LG Highlight (Limagrain), Katelego (KWS) and KWS Marcopolo (KWS). The Mid-Long Season DL include new varieties DKC2644 (Bayer), Wesley (Grainseed), KWS Pluvio (KWS), Revelation (Grainseed) and KWS Norento (KWS).

The latest results continue a long-term trend of improving maize performance. Over the past decade, forage maize dry matter yields in the BSPB trials have increased by more than 2 t/ha, while starch content has increased by an average of 2.7 percentage points and ME concentration by almost 0.5 MJ/kg.

“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,” said Ellie Roberts, Niab Forage Crop Specialist and Maize DL Trials Programme Coordinator on behalf of the BSPB.

“Breeding continues to deliver improvements in yield, starch and energy, while the trial programme is also challenging breeders to improve performance and nutrient use efficiency under increasingly variable growing conditions.”

Performance of the new varieties

Among the Mid-Long Season varieties, DKC2644 and KWS Pluvio recorded the highest dry matter yields among the new entrants, both reaching 19.4 t DM/ha, at dry matter contents of 34.0% and 31.3% respectively. Katelego recorded the highest ME yield at 222k MJ/ha and the highest starch content, at 35.6%, at a dry matter content of 35.1%.

Among the new Short-Mid Season varieties, KWS Giso recorded the highest starch content at 39.2%, followed by RGT Duxxford at 36.3%. LG Highlight produced a dry matter yield of 19.0 t/ha at 35.9% dry matter, with an ME yield of 220k MJ/ha.

The new Descriptive Lists provide growers with the latest independent performance data to support variety choice for the 2027 growing season.