Agronomist & consultant detail
The evidence behind Maestro
The detail layer for agronomists and consultants: where Maestro fits alongside Resolute, the trial evidence behind it, grain quality, ratings and agronomic specifics. Built for your best country, a top-end partner to Resolute.
herbicide
Conventional
MATURITY
Medium to late
BEST FIT
High yielding country, full profile (Darling Downs, Northeastern NSW, Liverpool Plains)
Plant with
Resolute, then Sterling
Lead Claims
01
Pulls ahead as the yield climbs. Reaches +0.45 t/ha (+5.1%) over Resolute in the highest-yielding third of sites.
02
Proven across eight years.
Selected on the same consistency and adaptation as every Pacific Seeds hybrid; its point of difference is performance at the high end.
03
The top-end partner to Resolute. Stronger up top, level lower down; plant both to spread maturity and seasonal risk.
04
PodShield™: pods that hold longer, paddock to header.
+0.45 t/ha
Maestro’s edge over Resolute in the highest-yielding third of sites (+5.1%).
5 to 12 t/ha
The yield range Maestro is built for. Its advantage builds the further up that range you go.
2 to 3
Varieties planted each season lets you spread maturity and seasonal risk.
Sorghum seasons are unknown at planting, which is why most growers plant two to three varieties to spread maturity and seasonal risk. This section sets out where Maestro sits in that mix, and the trial evidence behind it.
01 Where it fits
Maestro is a stable but responsive hybrid. Best suited for high yielding environments such as the Darling Downs, Northeastern NSW and the Liverpool Plains. Best results in dryland will be on deeper soil profiles 75% to 100% full, first choice hybrid for full irrigation. Its advantage is largest as yield potential climbs, so it is the variety for your best paddocks, planted alongside Resolute rather than instead of it. The clearest difference between the two is that Maestro carries more tillers: the additional tillers make it responsive to a good finish, and a little more exposed to a poor one.
How Maestro and Resolute compare
Resolute is the better fit where a marginal or unreliable finish is the bigger risk, for a late plant (its midge rating and uniformity favour it), and in tougher dryland country, where it does better than Maestro down to around 3 t/ha. Where the profile is only 50% to 75% full, bring in Sterling. Planting two to three varieties spreads maturity and helps manage seasonal risk.
02 Pulls ahead as the yield climbs
Where it leads
The stability plot below shows each variety's slope, how fast its yield climbs as conditions improve. Maestro's line is the steeper of the two, so it gains yield faster than the trial average in good environments, which makes it the pick for your highest-yielding country. Both varieties track the line tightly, so neither is unpredictable. Through the lower and middle yields the two run together, and there Resolute's reliability, grain quality and midge rating make it the better fit.
Stability: hybrid yield against trial mean yield
Each point is one trial, plotted against the trial mean yield. A line steeper than the dashed 1:1 reference gains faster than the trial average as conditions improve; Maestro's is the steeper of the two.
Source: Pacific Seeds grain sorghum multi-environment trials (2020 to 2025), 83 common trials.
Proven across eight years
Maestro is selected on the same consistency-and-adaptation metrics as every Pacific Seeds hybrid; its point of difference is performance at the high end, not a higher score in every paddock. It has been tested over eight years, with the multi-environment dataset shown here spanning the six seasons from 2020 to 2025.
03 Setting expectations: the finish
Important to know
Maestro's advantage is largest on high yielding country with a full profile of moisture. The trade-off is a dry finish, where Maestro carries more risk than Resolute: lodging risk is slightly higher, particularly on a half profile, and reduces as the profile fills. Set it up on a full profile to manage it.
04 Grain quality
Maestro holds grain quality and grain size well in good conditions. The exception is a dry finish, where its extra tillers can lift screenings, and where Resolute is more forgiving.
05 Agronomic specifics
| ATTRIBUTE | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Effective yield range | ~5 to 12 t/ha, best advantage in high yielding seasons and paddocks | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Tillering | More tillers than Resolute, which can help recover a patchy stand and buffer a heat or harvest-rain event, though they can lift screenings when the season finishes dry | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Best fit | High yielding environments, full profile, top-end potential | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Lodging risk | Slightly higher than Resolute, particularly on a half profile, reduces the fuller the profile | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Maturity | Medium to late, a little later to harvest than Resolute (the extra tillers), though nearly identical at mid flower | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Planting population, dryland | 50,000 to 60,000 established (same as Resolute) | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Planting population, full irrigation | 80,000 to 100,000 established | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Planting window (Darling Downs south) | Mid-August to around Christmas | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Early-plant note | Can look slightly more purple emerging under cold; biomass and leaf number the same, no yield effect | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| ATTRIBUTE | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Effective yield range | ~5 to 12 t/ha, best advantage in high yielding seasons and paddocks | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Tillering | More tillers than Resolute, which can help recover a patchy stand and buffer a heat or harvest-rain event, though they can lift screenings when the season finishes dry | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Best fit | High yielding environments, full profile, top-end potential | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Lodging risk | Slightly higher than Resolute, particularly on a half profile, reduces the fuller the profile | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Maturity | Medium to late, a little later to harvest than Resolute (the extra tillers), though nearly identical at mid flower | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Planting population, dryland | 50,000 to 60,000 established (same as Resolute) | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Planting population, full irrigation | 80,000 to 100,000 established | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Planting window (Darling Downs south) | Mid-August to around Christmas | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Early-plant note | Can look slightly more purple emerging under cold; biomass and leaf number the same, no yield effect | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
06 Disease and plant-health ratings
| ATTRIBUTE | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Midge | Rated 6; Resolute rated 8 | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Staygreen | Present | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| ATTRIBUTE | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Midge | Rated 6; Resolute rated 8 | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
| Staygreen | Present | Pacific Seeds internal ratings |
These are Pacific Seeds internal ratings.
07 Sources & methodology
Where it leads
Full source list and methodology
Pacific Seeds grain sorghum multi-environment trials (2020 to 2025)
Adjusted-means yield comparisons against Resolute across 83 common trials, and the stability regression.
Pacific Seeds internal ratings
Midge and staygreen plant-health ratings, and the agronomic observations (maturity, tillering, lodging, planting populations).
Stability method
Each variety’s yield is regressed against the mean yield of the trial it was grown in (Finlay-Wilkinson). The slope is how fast yield climbs as conditions improve: above 1 gains faster than the trial average, below 1 is steadier, near 1 tracks the average. R² is how tightly the variety follows that line. Common trials only, so both varieties are compared on the same 83 trials.
Important note: this is a guide only, to make a fully informed choice, please refer to our Advanta Seeds Pty Ltd specific conditions.
Important to know
PodShield positioning is an enhanced generic shatter defence; there is currently no industry standard method for quantifying shatter tolerance. For more detail on how Pacific Seeds classifies shatter tolerance, speak to your Pacific Seeds territory manager.
