New Maize Frontrunners from KWS

According to the company’s maize specialist, John Burgess Konsensus, Kontender and Kentaurus offer high yields and excellent quality within their respective maturity group.

“Growers need to recognise that the push towards ultra-early maturity at all costs is restrictive and cuts yield potential,” he says.  “Select the most appropriate of these three newcomers and you’ll get the best of both worlds – high quality and high yields.” 

Konsensus is targeted at growers in mainstream areas who are aiming not only for all up yield potential, but also maximum feed value. A new medium early it is expected to be placed in NIAB Group 6.

In trials alongside its nearest competitor NK Bull, Konsensus has shown equally good vigour, combined with unusually early starch lay-down in the run up to harvest.

“Results last year highlight the potential of these later varieties, with Konsensus yielding just under 22t/ha DM, a clear 1.5t/ha over its nearest competitor,” says Mr Burgess.

“More importantly when placed under more marginal conditions outside of its recommended maturity area, Konsensus still gave the best combination of yield and dry matter, achieving 30% dry matter without difficultly.  We see this is being a critical aspect to ensure varieties will mature especially given the difficulties of 2007 and 08,” he says.

At the other end of the maturity scale, the company is also introducing Kontender which was picked out early on in trials as offering particularly high yields under more marginal conditions.  “It is highly stable under marginal conditions, with an excellent ability to lay down starch early on.”

NIAB results from 2008 and 2009 confirm Kontenders’ performance under more stressful conditions, offering 18t/ha DM yield and over 35% starch on marginal sites.

The final KWS UK variety - Kentaurus is an ideal selection for more marginal regions. A likely Group 11 on less favourable sites, it had the highest yield performance of all ultra early hybrids at 18t/ha DM yield in NIAB trials, along with excellent silage quality at 11.4ME and leading starch yields.

Last season, Mr Burgess argues that the benefits of plastic were few and far between, and in good growing conditions and a relatively favourable season, Kentaurus in open field production gave better gross margins. 

“We saw 15-17t/ha DM yields in very marginal, high altitude conditions and while plastic should yield more, it failed to stack up, cost wise".

Mr Burgess points out that it costs £260/ha extra to produce a crop under plastic, so to cover this additional expense alone the system has to yield an extra 10 – 12 t/ha fresh weight. 

Dual-Purpose Introductions

Finally, Mr Burgess argues that as cow numbers decline and units get bigger, reliance on maize to drive up milk yields will increase further.  In so doing, selecting for ration structure is becoming more critical.

Not only will this will require more careful variety selection, it may also lead to a greater focus on utilising the wide harvest window the crop has to offer.

With the evolution of crimped maize, there is now greater interest in harvesting for corn cob mix (CCM).  Not only does this help to boost starch and ME, but growers can also combine feeding CCM alongside their forage ration. Typically CCM offers around 45% starch and 11.3 ME, making it an ideal inclusion for extra energy.

In response to this growing demand for earlier harvesting, the company has introduced dual purpose varieties to cater for this.  2008 saw the introduction of Lapriora (KXA 5011) offering very early maturity, with strong flint type grain indicative of its earliness particularly under marginal conditions.

2010 sees the launch of a very similar variety, Coryphee, best suited for grain maize, either dried or crimped. Coryphee combines very high grain yields and a fast grain dry down.

Not only does this help to reduce drying costs but it also provides added security in more challenging seasons such and 2008.  Coryphee topped Kingshay trials for early vigour and excelled in grain trials, yielding over 12.5t/ha at under 27% moisture.

“By selecting either and you can take advantage or the extra harvesting and ration flexibility these varieties have to offer,” concludes Mr Burgess.