Two New Maize Varieties Suit Even The Most Marginal Sites

Kangaroo Forage Maize

Both Kangaroo and Kokon are from KWS and have produced NL three year DM yields that are 104 and 108% respectively ahead of controls.

Kangaroo is the earlier of the two, producing higher dry matters.  However, both are likely to fall into NIAB’s Class 8 for maturity on favourable and marginal sites.

The two new varieties also have very high ME values so will provide excellent yields of high energy silage.

According to KWS UK maize manager, Julie Goult, with its good early vigour, Kokon is likely to be placed on more difficult sites.  “There is strong early interest for the variety in mid-Wales,” she says.

“Kangaroo, which while slightly shorter and slightly lower yielding than Kokon, has proven more consistent and has delivered strong yields year in year out,” she says.

Miss Goult says that growers need to take into account whole plant maturity when looking at earliness, yield and quality when selecting varieties.

“Silage quality is greatly affected by two distinctly different types of plant maturity,” she said. “Very early maturity scores can come from early senescence of stover, which often have less mature cobs, or plants that exhibit early cob development with ‘stay green’ leaf and stem.”

“The KWS breeding programme for N Europe aims to produce varieties with good early cob development supported by an extended life of green plant material.

“This helps produce some of the best possible quality silage in the clamp no matter what the season,” she said. “Kokon and Kangaroo are prime examples of these types now coming through the trials system.”

While further behind Kokon and Kangaroo in the KWS pipeline, KWS UK is also introducing limited commercial supplies of coded varieties, which are even earlier.

KXA 6008 is a high yielding relatively early variety with good quality.  And KXA6011 is very early and has good yields.  Both have completed two years of National List trials.  Behind these, with one year’s successful trials is KXA 7006 which appears to be even earlier with competitive yields.