United Kingdom - Limagrain varieties lead 2024/25 BSPB/NIAB Descriptive List

Two new maize varieties from Limagrain’s robust and extensive UK screening and testing programme have been added to the 2024-25 BSPB/NIAB Descriptive List; Duke (FAO 150) and Promise (FAO 180) offer significant advancements in yield and quality to farmers in both favourable and less favourable growing areas and have potential beyond forage for alternative uses including crimping and grain.

For a variety with such early maturity, Duke has exceptional dry matter yield (18.1 t/ha) and combines this with very high quality. Its starch yield is the highest of all varieties on the Less Favourable list (6.96 t/ha) and the highest of all Very Early varieties on the Favourable list. Duke also has superior cell wall digestibility for such an early variety, and its high ME yield increases its feed value potential. Agronomically, Duke shows very early vigour and has good standing ability; it also has good resistance to eyespot and strong stay-green characteristics.

″Duke will have broad appeal for farmers across the maize growing spectrum,″ says Tim Richmond, Maize Manager for Limagrain Field Seeds UK and Ireland. ″It is a first choice variety on both the Favourable and Less Favourable lists, having performed consistently in trials and demonstrated an ability to produce outstanding yields of very high quality forage in a short growing season. Its very early maturity gives many growers the opportunity to drill later and still harvest in good time, exploiting optimum conditions and allowing time to establish a range of following crops. With good early grain yields, Duke offers some growers the potential for crimping or grain production.″

Promise Maize from LG

Promise has the highest dry matter yield of all varieties in the Early category on the latest list for Favourable sites (19.6 t/ha) and is very high yielding on the list for Less Favourable sites (19.4 t/ha). It has good cell wall digestibility, high rumen starch degradability and high overall ME yields. Like Duke, Promise has strong agronomic traits, with very good early vigour and standing ability, and good stay-green characteristics.

″For farmers looking to fill their clamps with high energy maize, well within a safe harvest window, the high yielding and early maturing Promise will be a very good option,″ adds Tim Richmond. ″Given its combination of yield and high energy, this variety also has potential for AD, and its earliness also makes it a candidate for crimping or grain.″

Underlining the continuing strength of its UK maize breeding programme, Limagrain is also highlighting the variety Harmony, which is scheduled to be available for the 2026 growing season. Another early maturing variety, trials data is showing Harmony to be very high yielding with outstanding starch and ME, very good early vigour and strong standing ability.

BRAND NEW MAIZE VARIETY SELECTION GUIDE

Limagrain have just released their 2025 Maize Variety selection Guide for forage maize, grain and AD. The guide includes data on the new varieties added to the 2025 BSPB/NIAB Descriptive Lists for Forage Maize and Anaerobic Digestion, allowing comparison to those already established in the market.