In this paper “mild-temperate zones” refers to the regions found outside the tropics with moderate temperatures over a long period of the year and enough water available for the development of maize with a maturity range greater than FAO 800. Forage maize adapted to these situations should: (i) maximize ear and stover yields, (ii) have a proportion of grain that ensures a percentage of dry matter of approximately 35% at silage, (iii) maximize the digestibility of the stover, and (iv) not be stay-green to favor early harvesting. With the final aim of obtaining hybrids, it is suggested either the achievement of forage inbreds only from adapted materials or the introduction of exotic material into the process, which would increase stover yield in particular. Improved yields, especially stover yields, seem a realistic objective, as much progress could be expected by taking advantage of the heritability and heterosis of the traits involved. Advances in stover digestibility seem more difficult to achieve, owing to the low heritability of its components. The lack of heterosis in these traits would require selection within populations. Intrapopulation selection for increased Digestibility of the cell wall content is probably the best way to improve the stover digestibility. In order to maximize the Total Digestible dry matter yield, the most important components to improve are stover and grain yield, both in early and late materials. However, as this maximization cannot be achieved at any cost (whole-plant digestibility cannot drop below a certain level to favour high yields), the limits of stover and whole-plant digestibility significantly affecting animal performance need to be clearly established. Only through these studies will it be possible th construct a useful ideotype beyond academic speculations.