More maize growers switch to earlier maturing varieties

A high-yielding early maize variety could help growers overcome the risk of late drilling and delayed harvests caused by wet spring and autumn weather.

Bred by MAS Seeds and marketed by Elsoms Seeds, Mojito could tick all the boxes for farmers wanting to avoid a repeat of the weather-related challenges seen in the past two years, says independent crop consultant Craig Green, of CMG Agronomy.

Increasingly unpredictable weather means more growers are willing to trade-off a small percentage of yield in return for being able to lift crops two or three weeks earlier – and avoid adverse harvest conditions, explains Mr Green.

“Most of my farmer customers now see maize as the key break crop for wheat, instead of sugar beet or spring barley, because it achieves higher gross margins.”

Although last year was generally a good year for maize yields, it also turned out to be another late harvest for many growers – with June becoming a low energy month due to a lack of sunlight in many parts of the UK.

“This resulted in the maturity date of many maize crops stalling, making every maize variety mature later – which led to later lifting dates that delayed the establishment of following wheat crops.”

Agronomic package

Early-maturing Mojito has delivered the same yield as later maturing varieties over the past two years, says Mr Green. “Its consistency to perform well on all soil types should help it gain traction with maize growers throughout the UK,” he adds.

Across eight on-farm trials, Mojito achieved average fresh weight yields of 40.5t/ha – equivalent to the yield normally seen in a later maturing varieties, says Mr Green. One reason is because its wide-leaf plant attracts a lot of sunlight.

“It has a wider canopy best suited to 75cm row widths. Starch content looks good, my customers confirm that it goes into beef cattle quite nicely, and its certainly dual-purpose for those considering it for biogas production.

“In our 2023 trial we assessed 35 maize varieties in total, with Mojito delivering the second highest fresh-weight yield in its maturity class. It looks a very good value for money variety and with good standing ability, plus low cob, it’s less likely to suffer from brackling.

Going into 2024, Mr Green says Mojito is a good fit alongside later maturing varieties such as Neutrino – particularly for growers on lighter land who aren’t as effected by difficult lifting conditions and need to stagger supply into bio-gas plants.”

Dual-purpose variety

Toby Reich, head of agricultural sales at Elsoms, says  two years of difficult late harvests mean many growers have genuine concerns about later maturing maize varieties.

“When you look at the current dynamics of farm purchases for maize seed, around 70% of farmers are now opting for earlier maturing varieties as a conscious move towards earlier lifting and smoother establishment of the following crop.”

With a further 15-20 large scale anaerobic digester plants expected to become operational by 2025-2026, Mr Reich forecasts an increase in the area of maize grown for biogas production over the coming decade.

“There’s a stronger case for dual purpose varieties able to supply both silage and bio-gas markets with more emphasis on selecting early maturing varieties that produce both high dry-matter (DM) and energy yields.”

Seed specialist Emily Pick forecasts a promising future for the variety. “Mojito has a solid agronomic profile combining a score of 7 for vigor with an 8.3 for resistance to lodging,” she says.

“With high yields and fast early development this variety also has a very good stay green score of 7.7 that secures the silage harvest date for farmers.

“With a growing maize portfolio, that includes 2 other early maturing maize varieties in Makayla and Indem 1631, we are investing in providing an extensive trialing network that offers valuable information to both merchant customers and farmers.”