The British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) has redesigned its Forage Maize Descriptive Lists for the 2027 growing season, dropping the old classification of varieties by favourable, very favourable and less favourable sites in favour of lists built on maturity and overall performance.

For 2027 the varieties are presented in four lists based on maturity and overall variety performance, with a small overlap between the Short-Mid and Mid-Long Season lists so that growers can compare varieties around the boundary of each maturity group.

The change follows a review of the BSPB maize trial programme, explained Ellie Roberts, Niab forage crop specialist and co-ordinator of the maize Descriptive List trials. Increasingly variable weather has made it hard to label a trial site simply favourable or less favourable, because conditions swing widely between seasons. Instead of predicting performance from a site's class, the new approach analyses how each variety performs across all conditions and the full network of 13 BSPB trials, giving what the breeders call a more robust guide to performance across UK growing conditions.

For growers the new format gives a clearer starting point: first decide the maturity the farm needs and the target harvest date, then compare the first- and second-choice varieties within that group.

Ten varieties are new to the lists for 2027. Joining the Short-Mid Season list are Giso (KWS), Duxxford (RAGT), Highlight (Limagrain), Katelego (KWS) and Marcopolo (KWS); joining the Mid-Long Season list are DKC2644 (Bayer), Wesley (Grainseed), Pluvio (KWS), Revelation (Grainseed) and Norento (KWS). The lists can be downloaded from the BSPB and Niab websites.

Photo: Richard Webb / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Source: Farmers Weekly