30 September 2020 • Innovations • Maize
LG is adding to its maize product line-up with a new European range: STARPLUS varieties
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Limagrain Europe, through its LG brand, is a leader in animal nutrition and recognized for its expertise in meeting the needs of livestock farmers by providing varieties adapted to each ration. To supplement its high fibre digestibility (HDi) maize varieties designed for maizedominant rations, LG is launching a new range for grass-dominant rations: STARPLUS, hybrids rich in starch, especially quality starch. An unprecedented product line-up in Europe. |
In cattle breeding with grass-dominant rations, the supply of energy in the form of starch-rich maize is essential. But a high quantity of starch is insufficient; quality is fundamental because this affects its degradability in the rumen and ensures the starch is processed well. The new STARPLUS line-up has this twofold characteristic. When starch is processed better, then the milk or meat production is higher per kilo of silage maize ingested, meaning a savings in concentrates.
A full line-up to meet the needs of all livestock farmers
For several decades, Limagrain Europe has been introducing nutritional quality criteria into its maize breeding programmes. This has led to the creation of the quality label LGAN, LG Animal Nutrition, to distinguish its best performing maize varieties in animal nutrition, which comes in two ranges:- HDi hybrids, with a high level of fibre digestibility, intended for dairy farming using maizedominant rations (with more than 50% silage maize),
- STARPLUS hybrids with a high-quality starch content, suitable for grass-dominant breeding (with less than 50% silage maize) in milk or beef production.
The result of a dedicated research programme
The Research teams have focused part of their programme on the richness in starch of maize hybrids and on the degradability of starch in the rumen, which specialists call SRD, Starch Ruminal Degradability. After 4 years in partnership with an independent technical organization, Limagrain Europe constructed a specific calibration that makes it possible to precisely and easily identify hybrids with high ruminal degradability. |
“To help livestock farmers easily identify the LG varieties in our line-up that have high starch content and good starch degradability in the rumen, we decided to group them under the STARPLUS label,” explains Martin Cazot, Silage Marketing Manager. |
Varieties with high starch content and good degradability of the starch in the rumen will be grouped under the STARPLUS label. It’s a first in Europe. “In my opinion, a good ration means strong ingestibility, lots of energy, and high digestibility. The digestibility of fibre and starch and sugar content are thus very important,” explains Gerhard, a German livestock farmer.
STARPLUS: a more efficient ration
“With STARPLUS labelled LG hybrids, cows benefit from an availability of +5% of ruminal starch/kg of dry matter,” says Martin Cazot, Silage Marketing Manager. “For an equivalent quantity of ingested maize, the ration is more efficient; for the livestock farmer, this means the same volume of milk produced with fewer concentrates, or higher milk production with the same ration. For a livestock farmer using 6 kg of maize in the feed for his herd of 60 cows and based on a rationing of 300 days, the farmer can save up to 700 euros/year in the equivalent in barley.”
European livestock farmers have caught on, as indicated by what Walter from Belgium writes: “STARPLUS varieties give me security as a beef cattle farmer. These are the varieties I sow when I plan to open the silo fairly early and I need quickly fermentable energy.”
For more information, please contact:
Frédérique Vergne, European Communication Manager - Limagrain Europe frederique.vergne@limagrain.com - Tel: +33 06 74 67 48 80
Martin Cazot, Silage Marketing Manager - Limagrain Europe martin.cazot@limagrain.com - Tel: +33 06 80 46 61 51
