Maize


New varieties added to forage and biogas maize lists for 2018


• Six fi rst-choice varieties for maize • Nine new varieties for AD plants • Good choice for more marginal sites


S


ix new fi rst-choice vari- eties have been added to the British Society of Plant


Breeder’s 2018 Forage Maize De- scriptive Lists (DL) – alongside nine new varieties on the accom- panying descriptive list of maize varieties suitable for anaerobic digestion.


New additions to the list of varieties varieties for sites with favourable conditions include LG31211 and Gatsby from Lim- agrain; Autens KWS from KWS; Bonnie and Absalon from Grain- seed; and Belami CS from Caus- sade Semences.


The list of varieties for sites with less favourable or marginal growing conditions include new additions Autens KWS, Bonnie, Gatsby, Absalon and Belami CS. All were added as fi rst choices, said the BSPB.


Good yielders NIAB TAG forage crop special- ist Joanna Matthews believes


all forage maize growers will benefi t from the new additions – all of which are good yielders with potential to make good silage. Dr Matthews said: “They offer outstanding yield potential, rang- ing from 17.8-18.4t DM/ha on the DL for favourable sites which, in combination with a highly digest- ible ensilagable product, are val- uable assets for livestock enter- prises.” Top of the DL for dry matter yield LG31211 is a later matur- ing variety for favourable sites, combining excellent yield poten- tial (18.4 t DM/ha) with a highly digestible cell wall (CWD) score of 59.3% to create a high quali- ty feedstuff. Dr Matthews explains that CWD provides an indication of the quality of the leaf and stem material, which usually consti- tutes 45-55% of the ensilaged material.


“The higher the quality of this material coupled with the starch


from the cobs will drive the ener- gy content of the feed deriving a higher metabolisable energy val- ue.”


Standing power


Gatsby is a good all-rounder with excellent yields for its ma- turity in all growing conditions. It produces high metabolisable energy silage with good standing power. Autens KWS is suitable for both favourable and less favourable sites,


combining


great yield potential for its ma- turity.


“It has a high starch content,


which, when combined with its yield, creates one of the highest yielding good starch-rich feed- stuff per hectare on the DL,” says Dr Matthews.


Bonnie is suitable for sowing in a broad range of growing condi- tions and is listed as a fi rst choice variety on the favourable and less favourable lists. It combines great yield potential with a highly di- gestible stover, refl ected in one of the highest ME yields on the DL at 208,000 MJ/ha. “A high ME value has a high- er rate of breakdown within the rumen,” explains Dr Matthews.


“Passage time is then higher therefore potentially increasing dry matter intake and animal production levels.”


Absalon features high yield with good starch levels which, when combined with its excel- lent cell wall digestibility, creates high yielding quality forage for all growing conditions.


The BSPB 2018 Forage Maize and Forage Maize for AD Descriptive Lists are available to download from the BSPB and NIAB web- sites at www.bspb.co.uk and www. niab.com


Maize silage value maximised by acetic acid


Preventing maize silage heat- ing up during feed out, thereby maximising feed value and fi - nancial contribution, depends on the concentration of acetic acid, not lactic acid, produced during fermentation, says a microbiol- ogist.


Acetic acid has been proven to be the sole substance responsible for increased aerobic stability –


18 MIDLAND FARMER • OCTOBER 2017


and this acid acts as an inhibitor of spoilage organisms, says David Adimpong. Using inoculants pro- ducing only lactic acid leads to si- lages with low stability against aerobic deterioration. Based on this, Dr Adimpong from Envirosystems has devel- oped an inoculant with two bac- terial strains that produce acetic acid. In addition, OptiSile Maize


contains a lactic acid strain for a rapid initial fermentation and maximum capture of nutrients going into the clamp. “Farmers growing maize know that heating up when the clamp is open increases at higher energy values,” says Dr Adimpong. “The better silage you make, the more you can lose from spoilage or gain from its prevention.”


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