Maize recommended varieties | Maize variety search

The normal progression of varieties begins with a 'provisional recommendation' (P) after two trial years.  Provisionally recommended varieties can then progress through the recommended categories from 'plain type' to 'bold type' after additional annual trials, or be removed if their provisional performances weaken. For 2007, five provisionally recommended varieties have been removed from the list as their performances were well below acceptable standards after completing their third trial. In addition, Loft and PR39W67 have been removed from 'Outclassed'. Limited information on the top performing new candidate varieties in their first trial year is provided elsewhere on the website. These candidates will not be considered for recommendation until 2008, when the 'two-trial-year' minimum has been completed.

[P = provisional, S = Specific use, O = becoming outclassed]

The variety performances under the open establishment and plastic mulch systems are presented in separate tables.

In the ‘open establishment’ table, the varieties are listed in declining order of ‘starch yield’ within the ‘bold’, ‘plain’ and ‘provisional’ groups. This tends to bring the earliest maturing varieties with highest starch contents plus good yields towards the top of the table. It is these types of varieties that are most suited to this management system.

In the plastic mulch table, the varieties are also listed in declining order of ‘starch yield’ within the ‘bold’, ‘plain’ and ‘provisional’ groups. This brings the later maturing varieties with the highest DM yield/DM%/starch content combinations towards the top of the table. It is these more productive varieties that are needed to justify the additional expense associated with this management system.

When reading either of these tables it is vital to note that some results are based on only one year of testing (first number column). These data cannot be relied upon until at least another and ideally two confirming trial years have been completed. For this reason these varieties have been listed as provisional recommendations. Single trial year provisional data should be treated with caution.

The open establishment results are an average of the last nine years and the plastic mulch results are an average of the last Five years. Therefore, the exceptionally poor 2002 and excellent 2003 seasons have more affect on the magnitude of the control yields and quality contents reported for the plastic mulch trials than for the open trials. For this reason, the performance tables do not show accurately the size of difference expected to exist between open established and plastic covered crops grown in the same year. The expected extent of this difference is also indicated in the pages that follow. These variety tables should not be used to estimate the performance differences between open established and plastic covered systems.

Comparison of plastic and open systems.