“While other breeders are based further south in Europe, KWS has focused on N European conditions for over forty years now,” says Mr Hunt.  “Our priority has been to maximise the ability of the cob to accumulate starch in difficult conditions and you can only properly assess this if you breed and screen maize in colder climates.

 “In recent years we have taken clear strides forward in terms of early grain maturity and starch yield in varieties widely tested across the UK and elsewhere in N Europe.”

Mr Hunt says that this is resulting in maize varieties being introduced that can grow at lower temperatures below 10 degrees C and have the strong early development of the productive leaf canopy needed to make best use of whatever summer conditions prevail to optimise cob production.

“We’ve also recognised the need for better establishment on UK farms having focused on ultra early and early varieties with increasingly higher vigour scores,” he says.

Alongside this KWS also targets high productivity post flowering by selecting varieties where the plant is big enough and strong enough to support the production of as much starch as possible in the cob, before plant die back.  “Without this, you end up with low dry matters, lower cob maturity and poorer feed value,” he points out.

In the UK, KWS invests in 6 trial sites maintained by Hunt AgriServices to provide data across all major maize growing regions of the UK.  The trials mimic the protocols of the NIAB system and are extremely robust.

Europe-wide, KWS produces around 30,000ha of seed multiplication of around 220 different hybrids. Almost 30% of this is in France, which produces most seed destined for the UK, and which has recently benefited from a 15 million Euro investment in plant and machinery.

Buzet, near Bordeaux, for example, has an ideal mix of sandy soils and an equitable climate with 700mm rainfall, so has been a key production station for KWS since 2008.  According to Gerard Gaignette – Buzet’s director of seed production - the region now produces around 3000ha of maize for KWS and this is expected to grow by around 20% by 2016.

“We work closely with around 160 small farms locally who have the knowhow and expertise to produce seed and who must also have the capability to apply around 2500 cubic meters of water to their maize seed crops every year.

KWS only produces hybrids and so crosses two genetically different adults in the field to provide 100% of seeds with the same genetic varietal purity.  Males and females are drilled at separate timings to ensure pollination coincides – with males typically sown in every fifth and sixth row.  “Crops planted at Buzet on May 1st will start to produce pollen after 55 days – by varying this we can ensure that dates coincide,” says Gerard.  At pollination, the female flower is mechanically removed so there is no self-pollination.

Seed production at Buzet utilises a 200m exclusion zone between fields and in some countries KWS will also use a pollination barrier around the crop.  Each year the plant at Buzet will produce seed for 70 varieties from 110 parents with yields at 3-5t/ha.

Cobs are harvested at 28-36% humidity and stored at 11% moisture.  Seed is then separated from the cob spindle using sophisticated equipment that maintains the seed skin and quality, sorted using a colour sorter, before passing over a density table to grade for size.

“This latest technology ensures we discard poor seed and that which is diseased, helping enhance vigour and quality standards across seed lots,” says Gerard.