Three new varieties of maize, including a new 'ultra early' high yielding variety bred specifically for British growers, will be launched by Grainseed Ltd at this year's European Dairy Farming Event at Stoneleigh and South West Dairy Show in Shepton Mallet.
All three varieties show exceptional performance in the 2006 NIAB listings to be released on the 1st of September.
The specialist ultra early ES Pride has a class leading combination of cob yield and quality nearly 10% higher than the established class leader Nancis.
"Unlike other ultra early varieties, ES Pride does not rely on plant death to achieve high drymatters – completing its life cycle and reaching maturity ensures full potential for yield and energy," explains Grainseed's Neil Groom.
Another class leader is ES Agreement, a group 7/8 that achieved a maturity of 33.9% - similar to Crescendo but with 15% more yield.
"We think Agreement will appeal to a wide range of growers as it has shown a consistent 10% yield advantage over its competitors in virtually every trial - in fact it achieves the same yield as longer season varieties but is ready for the clamp 3 weeks earlier. In addition, it is incredibly consistent and is a very easy variety to manage," Neil Groom explains.
The final variety Apostrof is characterised by out and out yield and cob size and is the best performer for good maize growing land showing a yield of 108% at 30.7% drymatter for group 6 varieties in Descriptive List trials.
"If you have good maize land, this is pretty well the ultimate performer - the supersize cobs have to be seen to be believed. It's loaded with grain sites that drive maturity in the field ahead of its group classification, and at 59.3 cell wall digestibility, Apsotrof was the highest of any variety."
All three varieties have been bred specifically for maximum performance in British conditions and are very easy to manage. All will be available in one acre packs for growing in 2006, but demand is expected to be very high so early ordering is advised.
