Silage Corn in Australia

Advanta Seeds produces and markets corn hybrids in Australia under the Pacific Seeds brand. These hybrids have been trialled and tested across a wide range of environmental conditions to provide farmers the utmost confidence in these products. The Pacific Seeds corn range has been tested for yield, grain quality, disease tolerances and agronomic performance. The product range offers hybrids for the key market segments of feed grain, processing grain and silage fodder. Additionally, a focus on imidazoline tolerant hybrids within the range offers farmers a further weed control option in their corn crops. The Pacific Seeds range of corn products are some of the best on the market for Australian conditions.

What are the main breeding trends for silage corn?

At Advanta Seeds particularly In Australia, starch is very important. So we are testing all our hybrids early for starch but we also look at things like grain yield, stover to cob ratio, disease, size of the plant and the ability to handle heat and moisture stress. Grain yield is very important as not all farmers are 100% silage so they also want the ability to harvest and sell the grain as well.

At Advanta Seeds, do you have any preference during silage corn R&D, only for feed or for both feed and food?

We have 2 types of corn in Australia grit corn for food processing (harder grain type) and soft yellow dent for silage and cattle feed. We try and release hybrids that fit all 3 categories i.e., cattle feed, silage and food processing. This is very hard to do so at the very least we produce hybrids that fit 2 of the 3 , usually cattle feed and silage work well together Pac 624 is the leading hybrid in this bracket. We do have 1 hybrid Pac 727IT that fits all 3 it can be processed as a grit corn, has really good silage potential and feed values and is also a high yielding grain hybrid.

Could you introduce us silage corn products in your company?

Pac 624 is the leading silage corn in Australia as it has really high yielding silage qualities but also hold its starch quality extremely well. It is a 118CRM corn. We have another hybrid that is new called Pac 606IT 114CRM corn that is making huge inroads into the market. It is quicker than Pac 624 but has very similar yields and starch characteristics. It also has the added benefit of the "IT" gene for weed control which the farmers like.

What kind of seed treatment products do you use for silage corn?

We "Elite" treat most of our corn in Australia with Gaucho (Bayer product) which helps with soil insects.

Outlook of the Silage Corn Industry in Australia.

We have seen some good growth in Australia in the silage market in the last few years on the back of high cattle prices and feedlots being full. We are seeing a slight downturn in Dairy in Southern Australia at the moment but with water prices lower than average most farmers are still using corn as a silage option.




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