Twelve new varieties have been added to the British Society of Plant Breeder’s 2026 Forage Maize Descriptive Lists.
New entrants on the Favourable First Choice List for 2026 include KWS Zimo, KWS Reo, Amarola, Agrolino and KWS Portabello from KWS; SU Addition from Bayer and LG31206, Harmony and LG31152, both from Limagrain.
Favourable Second Choice List additions include DKC2742 (Bayer) and MAS 195P and Clifford (both Bright Seeds). The First Choice List for Less Favourable sites includes newcomers LG31152, Harmony, KWS Portabello and KWS Reo.
Favourable sites
On the Favourable sites list, KWS Zimo is the highest yielding new variety at 19.6 t DM/ha. It has a metabolisable energy (ME) yield of 230 kMJ/ha and starch yield of 6.90t/ha.
Bayer’s SU Addition is the next highest yielder at 19.5 t DM/ha. It has an ME yield of 221 kMJ/ha and starch yield of 6.02 t/ha. KWS Reo has the highest starch yield on the list at 7.08 t/ha.
On the Less Favourable sites list, Limagrain’s LG31152 is the highest yielding new variety at 18.5t DM/ha at 40.0% DM. KWS Reo has the highest ME yield at 222 kMJ/ha and highest starch yield at 7.29 t/ha at 37.0% dry matter.
Crop vigour
“All the new varieties score well for both early vigour and standing power,” says
forage crop specialist Ellie Roberts of Niab, which coordinates the forage maize variety trials programme on behalf of BSPB.
Halfway through yet another challenging growing season for UK maize growers Mrs Roberts remains positive that most trial sites across the country have had enough moisture in time to grow away.
“With 13 trial sites across England, the locations and circumstances not only give the varieties a robust testing across UK conditions but also aims to provide sufficient data on each variety and allows for the risk of some trial losses. Fortunately, the lack of moisture at establishment has, so far, only led to some trial failure due to uneven establishment at two sites this year.”
Dry weather
Mrs Roberts warns that the timing of late summer/autumn rainfall can impact harvest, particularly after a long dry period as maize plants may be drying rapidly when wet soils prevent access for harvest.
“The most critical element of the forage maize variety trials programme is that all varieties in a trial have fair and consistent treatment within each trial to ensure reliability and validity of the published data. The continuing challenging UK growing conditions over recent growing seasons continue to put these maize varieties through rigorous performance testing.”
The BSPB 2026 Forage Maize Descriptive List is available to download from the BSPB and Niab websites.