Limagrain Maize varieties for the UK come from the enormously successful Limagrain Genetics (LG) programmes in France. The LG/Nickerson partnership is the leading supplier of maize varieties throughout most of Europe’s major maize markets.

In addition to the breeding programmes, LG has made a major investment in the study of Animal Nutrition. Understanding how maize silage is utilised by the cow is of fundamental importance in selecting varieties to enhance milk production. LG varieties in the UK are characterised by massive yields of highly palatable silage, and have been designed to help lower unit costs of milk production.

The Nickerson Maize Technical Specialist, Simon Broddle, has extensive knowledge in this field and is available to give technical advice and expertise on 07850 811247

Using Forage Maize

Forage maize is maize bred for intense forage productions. Whole plant digestibility and total energy are the main criteria for the breeders.

Energy from maize.  Maize produces energy as sugars (carbohydrates) manufactured by the plant as it grows and matures.

There are three main types of carbohydrates:

• Soluble sugar found in the plants cell

• Structural sugars which hold the plant cell and fibres together

• Starch produced in the cob as the kernel matures

All of these are an important source of energy and contribute to the total energy yield obtained from maize.

LG Animal Nutrition is a concept devised to select maize varieties, which will help the farmer fulfil these two objectives:-

•  To produce as much feed on the farm as possible
•  To construct a balanced forage ration which maximases output from forage.
Maximising the energy content of maize silage is the key to maximising the resultant performance output – whether milk or liveweight gain.
To help maize growers select the varieties with the greatest potential to produce high energy silage of superior feeding quality, a new accreditation system has been launched by seed breeder Limagrain UK.
Called ‘LG Animal Nutrition’ or LGAN, this new accreditation is awarded only to the very best varieties based on their potential to deliver silage of high nutritional value as well as all-round good yields and crop performance in the field.
Growers can select an LGAN variety and be confident that it is very good, if not excellent across a total of eight criteria, these are: early vigour, dry matter content (earliness) and yield, starch content and yield, metabolisable energy content and yield, and cell wall digestibility.

More litres per cow/day
Since the LGAN concept was first introduced into Europe in 2005, many trials have been carried out – both at independent research institutes and large scale on-farm tests. Typically, when compared to varieties with unimproved digestibility characteristics, LGAN varieties achieve milk yield increases of around 0.5 litres/day/cow.
In one of the scientifically conducted trials, carried out at the independent research centre, Schothurst Institute, in Holland, dairy cows were fed maize silage made either using an LGAN-accredited variety or a popular variety renowned for its yields.
Feeding maize silage made from the LGAN-accredited variety resulted in an extra 0.43litres of milk per cow per day. Milk protein content was also improved in cows fed the LGAN variety.

Economic benefits
Taking the example of a 100-cow herd, over a 300 day lactation period and a 25p milk price, this extra milk yield adds another £3,225 to the milk cheque.  So, simply changing the maize variety boosted cow performance and profitability.

LGAN = High energy silage
In maize silage, the starch content and cell wall digestibility are the two key factors which affect the nutritional value to the animal.
Varieties which qualify for LGAN status have an improved digestibility of the stover as well as excellent starch potential. This results in a higher ME content and the ability to produce silage of a high energy density.
With the advent of the new LG Animal Nutrition accreditation, livestock farmers can improve animal performance and increase milk revenues.