“There is still time to get maize in the ground and it could be used to increase forage output with reduced reliance on fertiliser. Maize requires less fertiliser per tonne of dry matter than grass and a large proportion on maize requirements can be met from slurry.

“Alternatively, it could be used to produce crimped maize to help trim the requirement for purchased starch sources. Careful variety selection can allow a degree of flexibility to be retained about how crops are utilised as the season unfolds.”

He says advances in plant breeding mean there have been massive improvements in the standing ability and disease resistance. New hybrids such as Prospect, Pinnacle and Resolute now have the combination of improved agronomy plus the advantages of superior digestibility and high starch yield, making them ideal for quality forage and also for crimping.”

If 2022 is a better than average grass growing season so grass silage yields are higher and if maize crops grow well, Mr Camplin the situation might develop where a proportion of the maize could be crimped to help reduce the requirement for purchased starch sources for the TMR.

Crimped maize is typically a 65-75% dry matter feed with 14.0-14.5MJME/kgDM and 60-70% starch making it a valuable ingredient in diets. Having been processed prior to clamping, it is a rumen-friendly feed with a higher proportion of bypass starch.  It can be clamped or stored in AgBags.

LG has been running UK trials looking at crimping potential and Mr Camplin advises that variety choice allows flexibility of use to be a real option.

“We ran trials on three locations with an average 27.5% moisture at harvest with the wettest crops being 33%. As the crops are harvested around six weeks after silage would have been taken, it is vital to be growing early maturing varieties and to allow the maximum growing season. So I would recommend not making crimp from later drilled crops.

“Early maturing varieties that performed best in the trials are LG30179, Prospect, Resolute and Pinnacle, so growing these varieties would give the option for quality forage or a crimped crop (see table).”

He stresses the importance of selecting a variety suited to the farm and to look for varieties with low levels of disease and high standing ability and lodging resistance. As crops are harvested later it is essential they stand well.  Bad infections of fusarium, for example, can lead to fusarium stalk rot which can weaken the stem and increase the lodging risk.

If a crop is being planted specifically for crimped maize, he advises it is usual to reduce the seed rate to 85,000 seeds/ha. This is primarily to help bring maturity forward but this is less of a concern if an early variety has been chosen as they tend to have good cob maturity. However, having more space and light will help improve cob size and starch content.

“If a grower is interested in growing a crop guaranteed to produce high quality forage but which could be switched successfully into crimping to maximise the contribution from maize the key will be choosing an early maturing variety with good feed quality and the best agronomics.

“In this way, maize can provide a flexible way to meet the challenges of feeding cows this winter,” Mr Camplin concludes.

Crimp grain yields from early maturing varieties 2021

Maize was often seen as a challenging crop to grow due to the late harvest. However, new earlier maturing varieties mean the crop can fit very well into rotations, allowing successor crops to be drilled in good

 conditions and in good time.

While not a full alternative to oilseed rape, which will usually provide a better return on investment in most years, maize can be incorporated into rotations as a way to increase the break crop area and leave a good margin.

Agronomically, maize can prove particularly effective on farms wanting to control problematic weeds like blackgrass. The crucial thing to look for is early maturing varieties that will suit your site’s conditions, as you need a variety which will mature at the right rate for your farm to ensure a timely harvest and successful establishment of a successor crop.

Try our OHU Calculator to find the right variety for your location

Maize maturity is all about heat, which is expressed as Ontario Heat Units (OHU). Maize needs to accumulate a minimum of 2500 OHU, before being fit to harvest. The fewer OHU required, the earlier a crop will be ready to harvest.

Earliness is defined by the FAO for the variety; earlier varieties have a lower FAO. They can be ready to harvest as much as two weeks earlier than later maturing ones, which can make a big difference to crop success. If you have a shorter growing season, selecting an earlier variety will reduce the risk of variable weather delaying harvest and will increase the chance of the successor crop being established.

Look for varieties with an FAO of 140-220, to ensure you get a variety that will mature in good time. Varieties like Resolute, Saxon and Mantilla, all combine early maturity with excellent yields, while Gema with an FAO of 150, is very early maturing. To simplify variety choice for your site, download our unique Maize Manager App, available free on the Apple or Google Play stores!

The Maturity Manager section was developed with data from the Met Office. It shows the average heat units for your postcode and then lists varieties which are suited to your farm, and will mature within the average accumulated OHU. The Maturity Manager will allow you to make an informed choice and select the optimum variety – reducing risk, ensuring an effective break crop and the establishment of the successor crop.

Jonathan Evans is the third generation of the family to milk cows at Berry Hill Farm, near Newport in Pembrokeshire, where he farms with his grandparents Hayden and Dilys, his father Mark and Uncle, Colin. The farm is 154ha of owned and rented land, right on the coast.

They run a herd of 220 all year-round calving cows with typically 185 cows in milk. They are 85% pedigree Holsteins with 15% crossbreds.  They are currently averaging 8150 litres. It is a relatively young herd as a large number of cows were sold in 2019, and yields are increasing as the herd matures.

The farm is also carrying 250 youngstock as it is under TB restrictions. Heifers calve down at 21-25 months old.

The herd grazes for as long as conditions allow, usually from late April until mid-October. Being mainly sandy loams and so close to the sea, the farm is prone to drying out so summer grass growth can be an issue. In the winter, the cows are currently housed as a single milking group, but a new building is due to be available from February. This will allow cows to be housed in two groups of open, higher yielders and in calf, low yielders.

Winter feeding had been based on multicut grass silage and some wholecrop, but in 2021 they made the move back into maize.

“We had grown maize about eight years ago,” Jonathan comments. “We had grown some good crops but had problems with badger damage. However, we decided to give it another go, in particular as we wanted to try and improve milk quality which is important in our Glanbia contract.

“We decided to grow 32 hectares. We wanted early maturing varieties as we needed the crop available to feed as soon as possible, but also as this would allow us to follow up with either a grass ley or forage rye.”

They decided on two varieties, including LG’s Gema which was chosen in discussion with Wynnstay agronomist Lawrence Cozens, who explains that agronomically, Gema would fit the bill and he had grown it successfully previously in the area.

“Gema is an ultra-early maturing variety (FAO 150) with a shorter growing season and good early vigour, making it ideal for a short season rotation,” Mr Cozens explains. “It delivers high dry matter yields and is capable of producing a high starch forage, which is what Jonathan was looking for.

“It was particularly important to be able to drill successor crops and to avoid having bare soils which can lead to increased compaction, soil run-off and nutrient loss.”

The maize land received a significant amount of slurry and manure before ploughing. All the maize was drilled in late April after first cut grass and having waited for soils to reach the optimum 8°C at drilling depth. Fertiliser was applied to the seedbed and a pre-emergence herbicide was used with a follow-up spray based on specific problems.

Mr Cozens comments that the Gema got away particularly quickly as a result of delaying drilling and established strong plants quickly. He had planned to use a foliar fungicide, biostimulant and foliar plant nutrients at tussling, but the feeling was that the Gema had got too tall.

Throughout the growing season, Jonathan Evans commented that the Gema was ahead of the other variety and when ready to harvest, was standing 3 metres high and with large cobs.

“We harvested in late September as soon as the crop was ready because we had a good harvest window. We could possibly have left it a bit longer as the plant was still quite green, but this was not a problem. Harvesting early also meant we could sow 12ha of forage rye for dry cow feed.

“On average, we yielded at 42t/ha with the Gema yielding highest at 44t/ha. The analysis has been good at 33.2% dry matter, 32% starch, 83.7% starch degradability and 11.4MJ ME. We started feeding the day after harvest and began to see improvements immediately.”

Diets at the farm are developed by Wynnstay Head of Dairy Services David Howard who says adding maize silage has had significant benefits to performance. He comments that it has helped make better use of this winter’s grass silages which have generally been variable and below average quality.

“Feeding two forages can help increase total forage dry matter intakes and better balance the grass,” he comments. “But the biggest benefit has been in helping boost milk quality, particularly protein.

“The energy content and the bypass starch have helped drive rumen fermentation and we saw an increase in milk quality as soon as the maize was introduced.”

“The base ration comprises of 25kg first cut silage, 20kg maize silage, 1.0kg of a sugar-based molasses, 0.75kg chopped straw and 3kg of a balancer blend. The cows are then fed to yield in the parlour with an 18% high energy nut.

In September milk quality was running at 4.0% fat and 3.15% protein. In early October it has increased to 4.49% and 3.3% respectively and averaged 4.58% and 3.33% for the month. In November the averages were 4.55% fat and 3.42% protein.  In total the increased milk quality is worth around 1ppl extra milk price. Milk urea has fallen from 0.028% to 0.024% indicating better protein utilisation in the diet.

Milk yields have also risen. The herd is now averaging 29.8 litres compared to 26.0 litres in September, with cows less than 150 days in milk averaging 34 litres.

“Maize will also make an excellent buffer feed when cows are grazing, with the starch helping to complement the high protein in spring grass,” Mr Howard continues.

Based on the improved performance, Jonathan Evans is keen to grow more maize in 2022. He is planning to grow 49 hectares and at least 75% of the crop will be Gema.

He says maize is clearly an excellent feed and is definitely having an economic impact. In addition to the milk quality increases resulting in a better milk price, purchased feed costs per litre have come back from 9.3ppl to 6.3ppl.

He comments that maize is less weather dependent that grass, particularly on a coastal farm.There are fewer variables affecting how it performs, and he can be confident of at least 37t/ha of a high energy and consistent feed to use as the base for diets.

“With substantially higher fertiliser prices, maize has the added benefit of being a lower user of bagged fertiliser than grass and it is all applied early in the season when uptake is greater and not affected by fields drying out.

“I hope to grow enough to feed the cows through the winter and also for buffer feeding. If possible, I would like to feed some maize to youngstock,” he adds.

The combination of a disrupted drilling season, resulting in many later established crops and a cool month for much of August, means maize crops are maturing at different rates and Mr Richmond stresses the need to assess crops closely.

“Just because crops look good in the field does not mean they are ready to harvest,” he comments. “Walking crops in the last few weeks we have seen delayed cob development and also crops with a very high proportion of vegetative material. The only way to reliably assess fitness for harvest is to walk crops and assess both dry matter and cob development.”

He says maize should be harvested when the crop combines optimal starch content of 30-35% with only limited leaf die back, so maintaining high digestibility in the vegetative part of the plant. At the same time, the crop must have sufficient moisture to allow effective compaction in the clamp. Harvesting a crop too soon will result in sub-optimal starch content, as sugars will not have been converted into starch.

Mr Richmond advises walking well into the crop and looking at plants in several locations. To assess the maturity of the vegetative material he advises looking at the flow of juice from the stem, targeting to harvest when very little or no juice emerges as the stem is twisted, and when the leaves level with the cob are just beginning to turn brown. To assess the grains for harvest readiness, cobs should be broken in half and the position of the milk line assessed.

“To help farmers accurately determine if the crop if ready to harvest, the LG Maize Manager App, which is free to download, includes a Harvest Manager section. This provides an easy to use, step-by-step guide to crop assessment and predicts how far the crop is off harvest.

“Relying on careful assessment will ensure farmers enter the winter with the best quality maize silage to act as the foundation for winter rations,” Mr Richmond comments.

The Maize Manager App is available on the Apple or Google Play stores, or at www.maizemanager.com

Watch below to see how the app can help you!

Across the country, farmers faced challenging conditions to get maize established but the focus now has to turn quickly to ensuring a successful harvest to ensure a quality feed to compliment variable grass silage.

Simon Pope from Wynnstay comments that he can not remember a season in recent years where the average drilling date was so late.  “We saw very little maize drilled in late April as it was cold and dry while most of May was cold and wet.  The main drilling window became late May and early June.

“Across Wales and the West Midlands crops are beginning to catch up but a lot will depend on the weather from now on and how rapidly the Ontario Heat Units that drive maturity accumulate.

“One of the stand-out varieties for early vigour and rapid establishment under difficult conditions has been LG Gema. In a shortened growing season high-performing, very early varieties such as Gema really come into their own.”

Agrii National Forage Product Manager Ben Lowe says late sown maize has got going very well and in many cases is further advanced than earlier drilled crops where the seed took a while to get going.  Many crops are looking better than crops sown in late April in a typical year.

“This is largely because later drilled crops were actually sown in optimum conditions with warm soils and adequate moisture and I hope growers remember this in future seasons and throw away the calendar and instead take decisions based on the conditions.”

He suggests there is little if any point establishing crops in poor conditions, and it is always better to wait.  That said you need to choose the appropriate variety.  Drilling late and still harvesting at the normal time truncates the growing season and makes the choice of early maturing varieties essential.

A late drilled late maturing variety may struggle to mature with the consequence of harvesting too soon or having to delay harvest and risk poor conditions

Resolute Maize

“LG Resolute for example is an excellent early maturing variety which has outstanding early vigour to get away quickly.  But it is also the highest on the NIAB/BSPB list for dry matter and ME yield making it an excellent candidate for delaying drilling to ensure optimum conditions.”

Richard Camplin, LG Technical Manager is responsible for the company’s network of trial plots and agrees it might be time to rethink maize planning.  He says the trial plots had to be drilled later this year with the latest plots at the Bangor site in North Wales only drilled at the end of May.

“Going in late, the tilth was good, and soil was warm.  We drilled the seed shallower, and we saw emergence after just six days, and these are now probably the strongest plots we have.  It is about planning for the conditions.

“Later drilled crops has caught up quickly and also have higher plant populations.  We have not lost out and earlier varieties lime Saxon, Dignity and Prospect are looking good with the ability to allow an early harvest,”

He comments earlier drilled crops had higher field losses and poorer plant populations and we have had reports of this from across the country.  Seed was drilled deeper in cold soils and struggled to get away.  This is not to say these crops will not yield well as with fewer plants there will be less competition.

“The challenge now will be to gets crops harvested at the optimum time.  With variable grass silage reported across the country, dairy producers will be looking for a high-quality maize forage but also a feed that can be incorporated in diets quickly to complement the other forages.

“To achieve this will require a commitment to monitoring the crop and being flexible about harvest date rather than harvesting on a set date

He says maize should be harvested when the crop combines maximum starch content with only limited leaf die back so maintaining high digestibility in the vegetative part of the plant.  At the same time, the crop must have sufficient moisture to allow effective compaction in the clamp.  Harvesting a crop too soon will result in sub-optimal starch content, as sugars will not have been converted into starch.

Equally, delaying harvest will result in poorer digestibility of the vegetative part of the plant and reduce digestible fibre which is essential for rumen health.  He advises modern varieties stay green for longer and do not to go brown before being harvested.

“Harvesting date is not a direct function of drilling date but is influenced by OHU accumulation in the growing season with early maturing varieties requiring fewer units.  It is entirely likely that an early maturing variety drilled late could be ready for harvest sooner than expected.

“We regularly run NIRS clinics at markets, allowing farmers to bring plants to assess maturity and fitness for harvest.  Whilst in most years a significant proportion of plants are more mature than the grower expected, this may not be the case this year.  However, to avoid issues from harvesting at the wrong stage we would still urge farmers to start monitoring crop sooner than later.”

Mr Camplin recommends starting to walk the crop from mid to late August to assess maturity and fitness to harvest, to prevent crops going over.  He advises walking well into the crop and looking at plants in several locations.  Never evaluate plants on the field margins.

He says that modern varieties often remain green to maturity, and it is a misunderstanding that maize needs to be dead before harvesting.  The target range for an optimum crop is 32-35% dry matter.  At dry matter levels higher than this, palatability and intakes can be reduced, digestibility will be compromised, and the crop may prove difficult to consolidate, increasing the risk of aerobic spoilage.

“Crops typically dry down at 2% per week so, it is important to start measuring dry matter and assessing maturity, so you aren’t caught out.”

To assess the maturity of the vegetative material he advises looking at the flow of juice from the stem.  “Look to harvest when no juice emerges as the stem is twisted, and when the leaves level with the cob are just beginning to turn brown.

Then assess the grains using the thumb nail test.  The grains at the top of the cob should be like soft cheese, the ones at the bottom should be like hard cheese and the ones in the middle should be soft enough to leave the imprint of a thumbnail on.

He suggests farmers download the LG Maize Manager App onto their phones.  The Harvest Manager module assesses the condition of the crop and advises on target harvest date to ensure the crop is cut at the optimum dry matter to maximise feed values and fermentation quality.

Based on the dry matter of the cob and of the stem, the app will determine if the crop is ready for harvest and recommend a cutting date.  If harvest is not imminent the app uses postcode related weather data to predict when the crop will be suitable for harvest.

“By walking the crop and assessing the state of maturity and the rate at which dry matter is increasing, you increase the prospects of harvesting the crop at the optimum stage to maximise the production of high-quality forage,” Mr Camplin points out.  “The app will then improve the precision of harvest timing, helping maximise the value of the crop they have grown and reduce the risk of incorrect harvest date on silage quality.”

Download the FREE Maize Manager App and see how it can help you!