For North Wales mixed farmers Neal Morris and his son George, maize is an important forage for their milk production and beef finishing enterprises. It is also an integral part of their wider farming system, playing a key role as a break crop in their arable rotation.
The important point for Neal and George is that all enterprises are complementary to one another, with nothing done to the detriment of anything else. For that reason, they are constantly evolving their maize growing strategy, with earlier maturing varieties an essential element going forward.
Neal Morris (right) and son, George, run a mixed dairy, beef, sheep and arable business at New Sontley Farm in North Wales.
“We aim to create a balance in everything we do,” Neal says. “With maize, we are looking for consistency, rather than necessarily pushing for the highest yields, and it’s vital that we’ve harvested a mature crop in time to plant winter wheat.
“After the very challenging conditions we encountered in 2023, we’ve done things a little differently in 2024. Instead of growing a single variety, we’ve looked at several different options, including the very early maturing Duke. This has delivered exactly what we’d hoped, in terms of starch and dry matter, but most importantly it produced fully ripe cobs well before the end of September.”
New Sontley Farm, near Wrexham, runs the large, high-yielding Erddig herd of pedigree Holstein Friesian milking cows on a conventional winter housed and summer grazed system. With sexed semen used to optimise the production of replacement heifers, crossbred calves are retained and go into the farm’s beef finishing system. In addition to a substantial arable acreage, the farm also runs a flock of breeding sheep.
350 acres of maize are grown in rotation following either barley, Italian ryegrass or stubble turnips.
The ground is predominantly of a medium loam type, with some heavier land. Maize has been grown since 2000 and now extends to around 350 acres each year. It usually follows barley in the rotation, with stubble turnips or an Italian ryegrass grown over the winter preceding the maize. A lot of attention is paid to seedbed preparation, which Neal considers to be one of the most important aspects to successful maize growing.
“We burn off the preceding crop and apply generous quantities of farmyard manure before ploughing,” he explains. “After applying fertiliser on the furrow, we’ll then go over with a minimum tillage type of subsoiler, to remove any compaction, and then a pass with a power harrow before drilling.
“We never drill before the 1st May, and are then guided by soil temperatures, ideally getting the crop in before 15th May. This is to an extent gut feel, but we’ll also take valued guidance from our agronomists and maize seed suppliers Mark Hancock and Buddug Williams, who offer a wider perspective on conditions in the area.
“We do everything except forage chopping in-house, so we’re completely in control of activity and can work best with the conditions.”
Whereas it was once the policy at New Sontley Farm to roll after drilling – to enhance soil contact for the pre-emergence herbicide – Neal now considers the need to minimise compaction to be the greater priority. A post-emergence herbicide will only be used if needed, with an assessment made at around four to six weeks after drilling, and nothing else is required after that.
“One of the things we’ve been trying, with the aim of achieving more consistent maturity, is to vary seed rates,” adds Neal. “By dropping the seed rate slightly, by about 10% on our heavier ground, we’ve found we can create a more even cob maturity across the farm, which helps a lot when it comes to harvest. It’s something we’ll continue to look at.”
When it comes to determining harvest timing, Neal is experienced enough to know when cobs are mature and what the optimum date will be to achieve the most consistent forage stocks in the clamp.
The rule of thumb he’s worked to for years is to start chopping on 1st October, but this year he found that the Duke, one of the latest generation of ultra early varieties from Limagrain’s breeding programme, was fully mature by around the 10th September.
“We could have taken the Duke in the first half of September which would have enabled us to drill the following wheat earlier, but we actually delayed harvesting until around ten days later, because nothing else was ready and we didn’t want to have to re-open the clamp,” Neal explains.
Harvesting is largely carried out in-house, with the exception of a contracted-in forage chopper. Neal is not obsessed with yields, so doesn’t measure them, but his contractor reports crops at New Sontley Farm to be well above average for the area.
Maize makes up about 40% of the forage ration on a fresh weight basis, alongside grass silage. These are fed with a protein blend and concentrates in the parlour.
Maize – the cornerstone for expanding dairy herd“We want starch and energy for the ration, but the most important thing we need from our maize is that it provides a consistent feed source,” concludes Neal. “It is a natural crop, grown within the balance of a sustainable rotation, that drives milk production. Earlier varieties, like Duke, will help us to achieve these goals, even in the most challenging years.”
Download the Maize Variety Selection Guide here
For Devon dairy farmer Jono Mock, growing early maturing maize varieties is as much about feed quality as it is about harvest date, establishing following crops, soil health or environmental benefits.
All are important, but most notable in terms of the direct impact on the performance of his high-yielding Holstein Friesian herd, is the fact that he knows he is maximising the digestibility of starch from the day he opens his maize silage clamp.
Jono Mock is in the process of expanding his Devon based herd of high yielding Holstein Friesians from 180 to 220 cows.
That’s particularly important for his forage-based dairy system, where maize typically makes up fifty percent of the dry matter of the herd’s ration.
“I remember times when our maize harvest would be later, and we’d often be opening the clamp before the crop was fully fermented,” he says. “The silage would go right through the cows, and we knew we were not making the most of the forage. Now, we’re able to keep the clamp closed for at least four weeks after harvest, possibly longer, and it makes a big difference.”
Farming at Bircham Farm, Burrington, Jono is in the process of expanding from 180 up to 220 cows next year, with a new rapid exit parlour due to come online early in 2025. The farm is in mid-tier Countryside Stewardship, which includes the SW5 Enhanced Management of Maize Crops option. Amongst the requirements are that the crop is harvested before 1st October, and that a cover crop is drilled within two weeks.
Very early varieties that have helped the farm to successfully achieve these objectives in recent years have included Limagrain’s Pinnacle, Ambition and Dignity, and for the last two years he has grown Skipper.
“I first saw Skipper at one of Limagrain’s pre-harvest trial days and it really stood out,” recalls Jono. “We pre-ordered it there and then, and it performed extremely well in 2023, yielding up to 21 tonnes/acre.
This year has been more challenging, with overall yields being nearer to 17 tonnes/acre, but we’ve still harvested a fully mature crop before the end of September and we’re very pleased with the quality.”
Maize makes up 50% of the dry matter of the herd’s ration, with LG Skipper being used to ensure the crop is harvested before 1st Oct
Milk yields currently average around 9,000 litres from a ration of maize and grass silage, with a blend also fed to provide nutritional balance. Going forward, cows will receive supplementary feeding in the parlour, on a feed-to-yield basis, and Jono expects yields to rise.
Calving all year round, the herd is typically at grass for five months during which time quality grass and white clover leys play an important part. Long-term dual-purpose leys, such as the LG Sinclair McGill Castlehill mixture, are integral to both grazing and silage output.
Since growing cover crops after maize, Jono has noted a definite improvement in soil health. He usually grows Humbolt forage rye, though has also grown an Italian ryegrass this year. “We take the cover crop as an early silage cut, around the first week of April, and this ground will either go back into maize or into grass,” he adds.
At Bircham Farm, creating the optimum seedbed is one of the main priorities when growing maize, to ensure the best soil-to-seed contact.
“It does take time to prepare a good seedbed, and often it will mean two passes with the power harrow,” says Jono, “but it’s not an area where we want to take shortcuts.”
Selecting maize varieties which are very early maturing ensures the crop is fully fermented before the clamp is opened.
Drilling typically takes place at the end of April, or the first week of May, but like so many in the cold and wet spring and early summer of 2024, this year it was as late as mid-May. A contractor drills the maize, with an available phosphate source applied in the seedbed. The ground at Bircham Farm is relatively clean, but a pre-emergence herbicide is used if possible, as well as a post-emergence spray as a routine.
Support from Limagrain’s Graham Parnell has proven invaluable over the years, according to Jono, both in terms of variety selection and also in forecasting optimum harvest dates. Maize is most certainly a cornerstone of milk production at Bircham Farm, and is only likely to become more important as the herd expands. Another very early variety, Duke, new to the Descriptive List for 2025, is now on Jono’s radar: noted for its high starch content and good digestibility, it has all the attributes to suit his system.
“We had a five-year period operating organically, when it was just too difficult to grow maize, and we really missed it,” Jono concludes. “We wouldn’t be without it in our current set up and, because we are growing within an agreement where an early harvest and post-harvest cover cropping are essential, I believe we are making the best of the crop by using early varieties.”
Download the Maize Variety Selection Guide here
Early maturing maize allows Somerset farmer to improve soil health and earn an SFI payment from cover cropping.
Growing 800 acres of Gema allows Jon Bult to produce a high yielding, energy dense crop of maize to feed his 700 dairy cows. As an early maturing variety, Gema also enables him to prioritise soil health by establishing overwinter cover crops in maize stubbles.
Jon Bult, Somerset Farmer
“We’re on heavy ground; some of which is marginal for maize, so it makes sense to use the earliest maturing varieties,” Jon says. “Gema is ideal as it delivers high starch, but its earliness does not impact yield. “We grow Italian ryegrass after maize and can establish this even in late October. In the past, we’ve established grass with light cultivations but have had to work deeper due to the recent wetter conditions.”
As a cover crop after maize, Italian ryegrass qualifies for the Sustainable Farming Incentive action SOH4, which is currently worth £203/ha, although Jon believes the greater value is the improvement of soil health. “Minimising soil erosion and nutrient losses is the main priority. We terminate the cover crop in spring and apply manure and slurry before drilling maize. I aim to sow maize around 20th April, but recent cold, wet springs has pushed this back to 14th May. We’ll be growing Gema again in 2025, as its early harvest suits our system well”.
Early maize maturity mitigates wet weather woesWith a second consecutive maize harvest significantly hampered by another wet autumn, growers should choose wisely to ensure their 2025 crop is ready to be harvested in good time.
That’s the advice from Tim Richmond, Maize Manager for Limagrain Field Seeds UK and Ireland, who explains that growers no longer have to sacrifice yield or crop quality in order to secure an early harvest.
“Maize breeding programmes have advanced significantly in recent years, with modern varieties such as Gema, Dignity and Skipper enabling growers to produce a high yielding crop in a shorter growing season,” Tim explains.
An early maturing variety like Duke can mitigate wet weather risks according to Limagrain’s Tim Richmond.
“Likewise, Duke – the latest ‘very early’ variety to come out of Limagrain’s extensive UK testing programme – also offers a significant improvement in terms of earliness of maturity, yield and quality in favourable and less favourable maize growing regions.”
Despite being one of the earliest maturity varieties on the 2024-25 BSPB/NIAB Descriptive List, Duke (which has an FAO of 140) delivers an exceptional dry matter yield of 18.1t/ha and combines this with very high quality.
“In fact, its starch yield of 6.96t/ha is the highest of all varieties on the Less Favourable list, and the highest of all Very Early varieties on the Favourable list,” Tim explains.
“Duke also has superior feed value thanks to its improved cell wall digestibility which increases its ME yield – something that is unusual for such an early variety. It also has good potential as a crimping or grain variety, and, thanks to its very early vigour and good standing ability, is less likely to be impacted by another wet year as it can be drilled later in the spring but will still be ready to harvest in good time.
“And, should the 2025 maize harvest be hampered by another bout of wet weather, Duke’s excellent disease resistance and stay green genetics will ensure it’s still in premium condition even if harvesting is delayed.”
Cover cropping and SFI potential
As well as enabling growers to exploit optimum harvesting conditions, Duke’s very early maturity also gives growers more time to establish a following crop.
Limagrain’s extensive testing and screening programme assesses all new varieties in UK conditions.
“Planting a winter cover crop after maize is now the recommended best practice, as it delivers important soil health benefits, but can also allow growers to access additional payments through the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI),” Tim continues.
“Italian Ryegrass and Westerwolds are proving popular as winter cover crops after maize, as are forage rye varieties such as Humbolt which performs well in most scenarios.”
Undersowing maize with a companion crop is another potential SFI payment opportunity, and it has the added benefit of ensuring the cover crop is already established when the maize comes off. “Undersowing does however need access to the right equipment and must be done at the correct timing to avoid the risk of affecting the primary crop’s performance,” Tim says.
“Alternatively, a multi-species cover crop such as Limagrain’s Lift n Fix combination of forage rye and common vetch will provide the ideal combination of a crop that mops up residual nutrients whilst fixing nitrogen for future cropping rotations.”
Further technical info and data
Download the Maize Variety Selection Guide here
For north Somerset milk producer Jon Bult, growing a very early maturing variety of maize allows him to maximise his use of overwinter cover crops which deliver soil health benefits and an SFI payment.
Maize forms the basis of the ration for the 700-cow herd at Collum Farm as it consistently provides a high energy forage which contributes to yields of over 12,000 litres per lactation for the herd’s Holstein Friesians, and over 7,000 litres for the herd’s pure Jerseys.
Despite being grown on some marginal land, plus the challenging growing conditions of recent seasons, growing 800 acres of early maturing Gema allows Jon to prioritise soil health by maximising the area of overwinter cover crops that go into maize stubbles.
“We’re on heavy ground, a lot of which land is marginal for maize,” Jon says, “so it makes sense to opt for the earliest maturing varieties. With cows inside all year round, we need high yields and energy. Gema is ideal for us as it delivers high starch, but its earliness does not impact significantly on yield.
“We grow straight Italian ryegrass after maize and, being at sea level and with minimal risk of frosts, can typically drill this successfully as late as the end of October,” he says. “In the past, we’ve been able to establish grass with relatively light cultivations, but with increasingly wetter conditions we had to cultivate deeper to achieve success.”
As a straight overwinter cover crop, established after maize, the Italian ryegrass qualifies for the Sustainable Farming Incentive action SOH4, which is currently worth £203/ha, although Jon believes the greater value is in the benefits to soil health.
“Minimising soil erosion and nutrient losses is the main priority,” he says. “We’ll terminate the cover crop in the spring, and then apply farmyard manure and slurry before going back into maize.
“We will be growing Gema again in 2025. If we had the ground, I’d like to grow more, including some grain maize again, but land is our limiting factor at the moment.”
In an ideal season, Jon aims to drill maize from around 20th April, though it has been later in the past two cold wet springs, even as late as 14th May. He uses a standard herbicide programme, with pre-emergence applications for the earlier drilled crops. He’s routinely soil sampling his fields on a four-yearly rotation, and reports the key indices to be optimal, but is considering foliar applied nutrition as a possible development going forward.
Limagrain varieties lead 2024/25 BSPB/NIAB Descriptive ListTwo new maize varieties from Limagrain’s robust and extensive UK screening and testing programme have been added to the 2024-25 BSPB/NIAB Descriptive List; Duke (FAO 150) and Promise (FAO 180) offer significant advancements in yield and quality to farmers in both favourable and less favourable growing areas and have potential beyond forage for alternative uses including crimping and grain.
For a variety with such early maturity, Duke has exceptional dry matter yield (18.1 t/ha) and combines this with very high quality. Its starch yield is the highest of all varieties on the Less Favourable list (6.96 t/ha) and the highest of all Very Early varieties on the Favourable list. Duke also has superior cell wall digestibility for such an early variety, and its high ME yield increases its feed value potential. Agronomically, Duke shows very early vigour and has good standing ability; it also has good resistance to eyespot and strong stay-green characteristics.
Tim Richmond, Maize Product Manager
“Duke will have broad appeal for farmers across the maize growing spectrum,” says Tim Richmond, Maize Manager for Limagrain Field Seeds UK and Ireland. “It is a first choice variety on both the Favourable and Less Favourable lists, having performed consistently in trials and demonstrated an ability to produce outstanding yields of very high quality forage in a short growing season. Its very early maturity gives many growers the opportunity to drill later and still harvest in good time, exploiting optimum conditions and allowing time to establish a range of following crops. With good early grain yields, Duke offers some growers the potential for crimping or grain production.”
Promise Maize from LG
Promise has the highest dry matter yield of all varieties in the Early category on the latest list for Favourable sites (19.6 t/ha) and is very high yielding on the list for Less Favourable sites (19.4 t/ha). It has good cell wall digestibility, high rumen starch degradability and high overall ME yields. Like Duke, Promise has strong agronomic traits, with very good early vigour and standing ability, and good stay-green characteristics.
“For farmers looking to fill their clamps with high energy maize, well within a safe harvest window, the high yielding and early maturing Promise will be a very good option,” adds Tim Richmond. “Given its combination of yield and high energy, this variety also has potential for AD, and its earliness also makes it a candidate for crimping or grain.”
Underlining the continuing strength of its UK maize breeding programme, Limagrain is also highlighting the variety Harmony, which is scheduled to be available for the 2026 growing season. Another early maturing variety, trials data is showing Harmony to be very high yielding with outstanding starch and ME, very good early vigour and strong standing ability.
BRAND NEW MAIZE VARIETY SELECTION GUIDE
Limagrain have just released their 2025 Maize Variety selection Guide for forage maize, grain and AD. The guide includes data on the new varieties added to the 2025 BSPB/NIAB Descriptive Lists for Forage
Maize and Anaerobic Digestion, allowing comparison to those already established in the market.
Click the image to download your copy, or email emily.savage@limagrain.co.uk for a hard copy.
Under-sowing Maize Pays DividendsUnder-sowing maize with a hybrid ryegrass and red clover ley has delivered multiple benefits for Cornish dairy farmer Chris Sampson.
With five years of the practice under his belt, and now owning his own inter-row drill, Chris is seeing consistent results, and can list extra forage, increased soil carbon and reduced cultivations amongst the key advantages.
Chris is also eligible for a countryside stewardship payment of £172/ha for what is effectively a cover crop, and all of this is achieved with no detriment to his primary goal of growing a high energy maize crop.
“We grow around 40 acres of maize each year, which makes up about half of the winter forage ration for the milking herd,” Chris explains. “We now routinely under-sow it with a grass and clover mix, with the additional stewardship payment more or less paying for the seed. And, with the extra first cut of grass and clover silage we take the following spring, I’d say the whole exercise pays for itself in the first year.”
Maize was first grown at Metha Farm, near Newquay, around 25 years ago, and is now a mainstay of the milking ration for the 112-cow herd of Holstein Friesians. It is grown in rotation with grass and clover leys, with Chris favouring very early varieties that will produce a mature, high-energy crop in a relatively short growing season.
“We’ve tried growing wholecrop cereals as an alternative to maize, but could never achieve the same level of yield,” he adds. “It’s about maximising the energy production and the best measure of that is megajoules per hectare. With the system we now have, we’re able to exploit the full benefits of high energy maize whilst overcoming any environmental concerns with the crop.”
Grass and clover leys at Metha Farm are typically down for three or four years before that land is used for maize. The policy is usually to take a first cut from the old ley in early May before applying farmyard manure and then preparing the ground to drill maize.
“Our oldest leys are often still quite productive, and we’ll top-dress with nitrogen before taking a first cut,” explains Chris. “Once that crop is off, we have a fairly tight turn around to spray off the aftermath and apply muck before ploughing and preparing a seedbed.
“We find the right time to drill maize is at the end of May, or even the first week of June. We’ve tried drilling earlier but it’s usually better to wait until soil temperatures are higher. Even with the relatively late drilling we usually have a crop that hits the target of ‘knee high by the fourth of July’.”
Chris routinely soil samples all of the land going into maize, with the results determining his fertiliser policy for the crop. He may use up to 50kg/acre of DAP in the seedbed, and low level applications of nitrogen and/or MAP, or may decide there’s no requirement at all, adhering strictly to a principle of only applying what is necessary.
Once weeds have been sprayed off, and with the maize crop up to 12 inches high, Chris goes in with his Weaving inter-row drill, sowing a hybrid ryegrass and red clover mix at a regular seed rate of 14kg/acre.
“It’s a disc drill system and the coulters can be set to drill between the rows of maize,” says Chris. “The mix of hybrid ryegrass and red clover works best for our situation. The establishment is effective, so when the maize comes off in the autumn there’s a wispy crop growing underneath that kicks on very quickly.”
The priority for Chris is a mature crop of maize, so he resists the pressures to cut earlier and waits until the cobs are fit. In 2023 the maize came off on 8th October, with an overall fresh weight yield of around 17.5 tonnes/acre at 35.8% dry matter. With winter feeding well underway, the maize was feeding well, contributing a significant proportion to the total mixed ration for cows averaging 7,500 litres per lactation.
THE BENEFITS OF UNDERSOWING MAIZE
With undersowing becoming increasingly popular, Limagrain Maize Sales Manager, Tim Richmond, explains some of the wide-ranging benefits the practice has to offer.
The principal benefit of undersowing maize with a secondary crop such as ryegrass, clover, or vetch, or a combination of all three, is that it prevents maize stubbles from sitting bare over the winter. This not only reduces nutrient losses and soil erosion caused by run-off, but also makes travelling at harvest and in the subsequent spring easier, with the secondary crop helping to improve and bind soil structure.
The undersown crop also provides a valuable winter or spring crop for livestock to graze as well as providing a home for slurry to be spread in the early spring.
Undersowing also helps to improve soil biology, with worm counts typically 6-7 times higher compared to bare maize stubbles.
The secondary crop will also provide competition against spring germinating weeds, and, if conditions turn too wet to drill the next year’s crop, the land will still have a useful grass crop instead of sitting bare for a second winter.
Maize varieties such as Gema, Dignity, Saxon and Skipper are ideally suited for undersowing as they are early maturing which allows the cover crop to become further established after an early maize harvest, yet still go on to deliver a yield on par with the top performing varieties.
To achieve the best levels of cover crop establishment, the secondary crop should be drilled at a rate of around 15kg/ha (depending on the species and mixture) when the maize is at the 4-5 leaf stage. Avoid drilling the cover crop too late as an overly developed maize canopy will prevent the secondary crop from establishing properly, and ensure a gap of 15cm is left between the cover crop and maize drill rows to prevent any detrimental competition effect on maize yields.
Earlier maize suits rotational approachMaximising the milk produced from homegrown feed is the overriding aim for Cornish dairy farmer Richard Martin, not least because it is his surest route to profit.
With 1,000 high yielding cows on an autumn block calving system at Trethick Farm near Bodmin, Richard Martin relies on maize as the major energy source in the herd’s total mixed ration, with it making up 75% of the forage component during the period of peak lactation.
Achieving consistent yields of the highest quality maize, within a safe harvest window, is imperative, and this is being achieved by managing the crop expertly from seedbed to clamp and by choosing high ranking varieties, now mainly in the ‘very early’ maturity class.
“We’re constantly looking at ways to fine tune our maize growing practice, through a combination of better management and ensuring we are using the best available varieties for our purpose,” says Richard.
“Most importantly, we’re growing maize as part of an overall system on the farm, so that it’s fully integrated with everything else that we’re doing.
“We’re rationalising the number of varieties we grow, down from as many as nine in any season to perhaps only three or four in the future. We’re growing 475 acres of maize and have three separate clamps, so ideally, we want three blocks reaching optimum maturity in turn across a manageable harvest period of two to three weeks.”
In 2023, which Richard ranks as one of the better years for growing maize in recent times, harvest started on 20th September and was completed by the first day of October, with crops averaging a fresh weight of approximately 15 tonnes/acre at 30% dry matter and 30% starch. In line with a policy of seeking out the best new varieties, Limagrain’s very early maturating variety, Foxtrot, was recommended to Richard and supplied by Graham Ragg of Mole Valley Farmers, and made a very successful debut on the farm, ‘ticking all the boxes’ for Richard.
“In the last ten years we’ve brought the maize harvest forward by two to three weeks, through the way we manage the crop and by selecting earlier maturing varieties. Very early varieties such as Foxtrot allow us more time, in better conditions, to establish a following crop.”
Maize rarely follows maize at Trethick Farm, but – on the rare occasions that it does – a cover crop is always drilled into the stubble: “Maize usually follows a cereal, or sometimes grass, but if we do have to grow maize after maize then we’ll sow a cover crop like mustard or forage rape,” Richard explains. “The latter gives us the option to graze over winter, but the most important factor is to ensure we avoid the risks of bare soils.”
Whether following a cereal, grass or a cover crop, the policy is always to plough before drilling, and every maize field is soil tested in good time.
“I see maize as a reset for the land, so we check the fertility and pH of every field and apply plenty of organic matter by spreading muck and slurry,” adds Richard. “The soil analysis will determine what fertiliser, if any, we
apply. There’s absolutely no point in routinely applying fertiliser if it’s not required, and we’re finding our ground is high in organic matter, with Ps and Ks often up at 4.
“By soil sampling and tailoring our soil nutrients accordingly, we’ve cut our use of DAP down the spout by half, with no detriment to crop performance.”
After ploughing, the typical approach is a deep cultivation pass with a Sumo Trio before power harrowing, and then using a drill mounted on a power harrow which ensures the fineness of seedbed that Richard feels is increasingly important.
“In the past two years we’ve moved to using pre-emergence herbicides as a routine, partly because the chemistry available for later spraying is less robust. The pre-ems are more effective with a finer seedbed, we find.
“Whether or not we apply any nitrogen will depend on the season. It’s now more of a tactical application if and when needed, rather than a routine, as we don’t want to waste resources where they aren’t needed.
“With modern varieties we don’t see the need for an eyespot spray, so really it’s then a case of monitoring the crop closely and being ready for harvest.”
Given the high feed rates for maize, Richard is not looking to take the crop too dry, so his target is 30% dry matter and 30% starch. To maximise the feed value of the ensiled crop, he pays close attention to ensuring the crop is properly consolidated in the clamp to optimise fermentation and preservation.
With maize silage providing the bulk of the herd’s energy requirements, cows are yielding a lactation average of 9,000 litres from twice daily milking, with high milk solids of 4.4% butterfat and 3.6% protein. The only feed bought-in to supplement the farm’s homegrown forages and cereals is a protein blend.
“We’re not feeding any concentrates in the parlour, and just use one mix across the board for all the milking herd,” says Richard.
“From a peak of 75%, the maize will come down to nearer 50% of the forage ration by the spring. We’re an early turn-out farm, so cows are usually going out to graze by day from mid-to-late February and will receive their TMR at night. By June and July, we’ll have a large part of the herd dry.”
Moving forward, Richard remains focused on continuing to improve production from homegrown feed, and that means becoming even better at growing maize. New varieties with improved digestibility like Foxtrot are an important part of the progress, but so are innovations in management.
“We’ll continue to challenge the way we grow our maize to seek marginal gains,” Richard concludes. “We’re trialling foliar applications of trace elements, for example, and may in future look at things like different seed rates. There’s always room for improvement with what is such an integral part of our system.”
Early maturing maize proves pivotal in rotation
Increasing the acreage of maize in the arable rotation is proving highly successful for Warwickshire farmers Richard and Fred White at their 650ha mixed unit at Swan Farm, near Atherstone.
Seen firstly as a good alternative break crop to oilseed rape – which has become harder to establish due to the difficulties in controlling flea beetle – maize is now a valuable forage for their beef finishing enterprise as well as an additional cash crop sold to neighbouring dairy and goat farms.
Key to maize fitting into the rotation and also the operational schedule at Swan Farm is the use of a very early maturing variety, with Limagrain’s Gema fitting the bill well for the past two years.
“Harvesting a fully mature maize crop early is important to us for a number of reasons,” explains Richard White. “Firstly, we’re supplying longstanding customers that want the maize for feeding as early as possible, but we also want the fields cleared so that we can prepare the ground for drilling winter wheat.
“This year we harvested 52ha of Gema on 20th September, which was our contractor’s first outing of the season. We weigh representative trailer loads, so we know what we’re selling, and the crop averaged over 20 tonnes/acre fresh weight, which we’re very pleased with.”
Fresh crop samples were taken by Wynnstay’s Ellie Edwards just before harvest, with the analysis coming back at 32% dry matter, 34.4% starch and 11.5 MJ/kg ME, indicating optimum maturity and a high feed value forage. Having sold the seed, Ms. Edwards supported the customer with crop monitoring throughout the growing season and will continue her input through to feed out.
“It was a relatively positive season for growing maize in many areas,” she says, “with rainfall through July and August allowing good summer growth and enabling crops to yield well.”
At Swan Farm, the maize is drilled relatively early, with the 2023 crop going in during the last week of April. The early drilling is at least in part to ensure this job is out of the way before the fodder beet goes in.
“This is another reason why a very early variety like Gema works so well for us,” adds Richard. “Fodder beet is another important break crop in our rotation, and – like the maize – it’s both a cash crop that we sell as well as a valuable feed for our own sheep. By harvesting the maize as early as we do, it’s out of the way before we’re into lifting fodder beet. The two crops work well together in this way.”
Maize, fodder beet and also potatoes now provide the main cereal break crops in the rotation at Swan Farm, which grows up to 400ha of cereals, mainly winter wheat as well as some spring barley and spring oats.
“We’re doing everything we can to stay on top of grass weeds in our wheat, which is why productive break crops as part of a balanced rotation are so important,” says Richard. “We seem to be keeping on top of blackgrass at the moment, but need to be wary of other possible threats, like ryegrass. Staying on top of the problems is key.”
Swan Farm also includes 160ha of low input permanent grassland, which provides grazing for up to 200 cattle and a 450-ewe flock of EasyCare breeding ewes that are lambed in April. The permanent grassland, which is also used to produce hay sold into the equestrian market, helps to underpin a homegrown feed philosophy for both livestock enterprises.
“With the maize silage for finishing beef cattle, fodder beet for fattening lambs, plus our own spring cereals producing rolled barley and oats, we’re avoiding any great reliance on bought in feeds,” adds Richard. “It means our break crops are contributing to the other enterprises on the farm as well as being valuable in the rotation.”
As any effective rotation should, the cropping system at Swan Farm is helping to maintain good soil fertility as well as control weed and disease burdens.
The 2023 crop of Gema maize only had farmyard manure and digestate applied prior to ploughing, with no fertiliser down the spout or applied later. Maize crops were also relatively clean, requiring just one herbicide application during the growing season.
Going forward, as the Whites transition from the current HLS scheme, they are increasing their use of cover crops over the winter. Mixtures comprising mustard, fodder radish, millet and other species are now being grown, providing soil fertility benefits through green manure as well as useful shooting cover.
As they review new environmental scheme options, to work out what is best suited to their farm, one thing that’s fairly certain for the foreseeable future is a continuing commitment to growing very early maturing maize.
Creating carryover maize stocks helps maintain herd performance
A bumper 2023 maize crop looks set to eliminate any future risks of running short of a key forage for one high yielding Dorset dairy herd.
According to Robert Symms, who farms with his wife Bryony and son Jake at Batsons Farm, near Sherborne, growing a slightly increased maize acreage and opting for a top-ranked very early maturing variety should ensure the availability of important carryover silage stocks come the autumn of 2024.
“We’re estimating that we’ve clamped around 2,800 tonnes of maize this year, from 143 acres, so pretty much 20 tonnes/acre,” Robert reports. “That should mean we’ll have enough to last until Christmas 2024, so we can maintain a consistent ration all year round and avoid the issues of previous years when we’ve run short of maize before the new crop is fully fermented.”
Batsons Farm has evolved significantly over the last decade or so, firstly converting to a fully housed operation around 10 years ago, and in the last 12 months moving over to robotic milking. Over this period, a forage ration comprising approximately 60% maize and 40% grass silage has become established, fed as part of a total mixed ration through a forage wagon and underpinning yields that are now pushing up towards 12,500 litres/cow.
The herd currently numbers 220 milking cows, with Robert conscious of the danger of any shortfall in maize production. He therefore turned to his seed supplier, Tim Rutter of Pearce Seeds, for advice on how to boost maize output.
“Based on the fact that we needed more yield, but still wanted a mature crop harvested before the end of September, Tim recommended Dignity from Limagrain,” Robert adds. “As a new variety, it had performed very well in Pearce Seeds’ own local trials and had all the attributes we were looking for.
“It was £10 a pack more than some of the other alternatives, but it has certainly performed for us, and I can now say it has been well worth the extra investment.”
Maize is usually drilled at Batsons Farm during the first week of May, and 2023 was no exception. It follows an over-winter cover crop of westerwold ryegrass, which provides a bonus cut of forage in early April and helps avoid the risks of bare ground during the wetter months.
“The cover crop will have had slurry on it in March and we apply farmyard manure after we’ve taken the cut of silage,” says Robert. “We then plough in the ryegrass stubble and prepare the ground for drilling with one or two passes with the power harrow. The maize is drilled by our contractor and goes in with one hundredweight to the acre of DAP down the spout. We’ve never seen the benefit of top dressing with any additional nitrogen fertiliser, so it’s simply a case of then allowing our agronomist to advise on herbicides, but our crops are generally pretty clean.”
In what has been a favourable year for growing maize in Dorset, the Dignity has performed exceptionally well,
maturing in good time for harvest before the end of September and yielding an impressive 20 tonnes/acre. Early sampling of the fresh, unfermented crop, taken from the clamp, revealed a dry matter of 34% and an ME of 11.2 MJ/kg, with starch at 28.6%. By the end of November, the fermented crop was analysed at 39.3% DM and 39.0% starch, with an ME of 11.96 MJ/kg. The ensiled crop was also shown to have a high percentage of fast digesting fibre and a low content of non-digestible fibre, both of which will ensure the crop feeds well and is easily assimilated in the rumen.
According to the farm’s nutritionist Vicky Ham, of Kite Consulting, forage budgeting that will, in future, allow the new maize to remain untouched for two or three months will be beneficial to overall herd performance.
“At Batsons Farm, the maize offers vital energy and a safe source of starch and is the foundation for the milkers and dry cow rations. We aim to feed a ratio of 60:40 maize to grass silage but can only do this with adequate silage stocks and fully fermented maize silage.
“When stocks run short, as we’ve seen this year and in previous years, there’s a risk of upsetting the rumen balance, and feeding the maize before the starch is at its most digestible equates to lost production potential.
“With the increased stocks resulting from the improved 2023 harvest with LG Dignity, we’re in a much better position from a forage budgeting perspective. Next year the new-season maize should remain untouched for two to three months after clamping and that will mean we’re maximising its value in the ration.”
With regards to the grass silage component of the ration, the Symms have moved towards a multi-cut system in recent years, starting early and taking as many as five or even six cuts a season, to maximise silage quality.
With input again from Pearce Seeds, they are now looking at four-to-five-year leys, with the addition of very large leaf white clover, which will not only boost the protein value of the grass silage but could also help to secure additional payments through the new Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes.
Limagrain varieties top the 2024/25 AHDB Recommended ListPlant breeder Limagrain’s winter wheat LG Beowulf and 2-row winter barley LG Caravelle, are the highest yielding varieties to join the 2024/25 AHDB Recommended List.
LG Armada also takes lead position as the highest yielding oilseed rape variety on the Recommended List for the UK, whilst LG Adeline takes pole position for oilseed rape in the North.
In addition, high yielding maize variety Saxon tops the 2024 BSPB Forage Maize Descriptive List for ME yield (‘000s MJ/ha).
This means that LG now offer the highest yielding varieties in; winter wheat, 2 row winter barley, OSR and maize*.
“This is an exceptional achievement for any breeder,” explains Ron Granger, Limagrain’s arable technical manager.
“Last year saw our winter wheat and winter barley varieties take pole positions across the RL. We have built on this success for a second year running, producing higher yielding varieties, backed up with desirable agronomic characteristics, securing high yield performance on farm. What’s more, these varieties have proven to be robust and consistent performers across seasons and regions.”
Highest yielding winter wheat
Group 4 hard wheat LG Beowulf yields 106% across the UK and shows the same consistency of performance across all regions: east (106%), west (106%) and the north (107%) – an outstanding achievement for any variety.
LG Beowulf has produced these exceptionally high yields consistently in National List and RL trials over regions and seasons, in both the unusually dry summer of 2022 as well as the exceptionally wet summer of 2023. Alongside these yields, it offers a good grain quality, with a spec weight of 78.3 kg/hl.
“LG Beowulf is much like LG Skyscraper; it performs wherever you grow it,” he says. “It can be drilled early or late – providing growers with a wide drilling window, as a first or second wheat, on light or heavy land, and there are very few varieties that meet this criterion,” he says.
LG Beowulf yields are backed up by a set of strong agronomic characteristics, offering an excellent disease resistance profile with ratings of 9 for yellow rust, 6.7 for septoria, as well as orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM) resistance.
It has very stiff straw and is rated 8 for standing in untreated and PGR treated trials, which strongly contributes to its reliability on farm.
“In summary, LG Beowulf is a very high yielding, robust and versatile variety that comes at a time when growers are looking more than ever to maximise output, in order to maintain profit in times of increasing costs,” says Mr Granger.
Highest yielding winter barley
LG Caravelle is the highest yielding two-row winter barley for the second year running, since joining the Recommended List in 2023.
“Offering UK yields of 105.6%, LG Caravelle continues to dispel any misconception that two row barleys are lower yielding than hybrids. The variety certainly competes with the best yielding hybrid barleys, especially in the east,” says Mr Granger. “LG Caravelle is competitive in a black-grass situation, another characteristic that is normally associated with hybrids.” 
“LG Caravelle’s high yields are backed up by an excellent disease profile, reflected in its superb untreated performance, it is early maturing with stiff straw and good brackling resistance.”
“LG Caravelle also offers an exceptionally high specific weight for a winter barley, of 71.4 kg/hl combined with low screenings %,” he adds.
“Indeed, LG Caravelle possesses all of the key characteristics for a winter barley.”
LG Capitol is a two-row winter barley that joins the Recommended List this year and is a sister variety to LG Caravelle, offering similar yields and consistency of performance over seasons and regions. Its yields sit just 0.1% behind that of LG Caravelle, at 105.5%.
LG Capitol also combines a high specific weight and ripening, similar to KWS Tardis, with a solid disease resistance profile and good straw attributes.
Highest yielding OSR
The top three highest yielding oilseed rape varieties on the 2024/25 AHDB Recommended List all come from the Limagrain stable, offering exceptional consistency over regions and seasons.
LG Armada tops the UK and E/W List at 107%, LG Academic follows 1% behind at 106%, with LG Adeline taking pole position on the Northern List with an outstanding yield of 108.3%.
LG Armada is one of the next generation of versatile high yielding oilseed rape varieties, improving on the characteristic trait loaded-hybrids that growers have come to expect from Limagrain.
“‘Ambassador-like’ in its growth habit, LG Armada has strong autumn vigour, is robust, with good adaptability to all regions of the UK,” says Limagrain’s oilseeds product manager, Liam Wilkinson.
“LG Armada is the first of our seventh generation of hybrids, bringing new maintainer and restorer lines to our OSR portfolio. This effectively means we are bringing varieties to market offering a stacked portfolio of much improved stem health attributes, alongside the standard pod shatter, TuYV and RLM7 resistance traits.”
“We know stem health is key to driving consistent oilseed rape yields across farms and with these seventh-generation hybrids, we are seeing bigger stems and better rooting which also results in higher oil content,” he says.
Highest yielding maize
Limagrain’s maize variety, Saxon was added to the BSPB 2023 Forage Maize Descriptive List and has made the top of the list for 2024 for its ME yield of 225 (‘000s MJ/ha). It has dry matter yields of 19.1 t/ha, making it ideal for all uses, including anaerobic digestion.
“On the Descriptive List, Saxon yields 105% of the average and additionally is quite an early variety with an FAO of 180,” says Tim Richmond, Limagrain’s product manager for maize.
“Saxon combines superb early vigour with good standing power, making it perfectly suited for all mainstream maize sites.”
“LGAN has long been the watchword for maize varieties that deliver what really counts – high yields of high-quality feeds that sustain excellent milk yields. Saxon is one of the latest examples of the benefit of breeding varieties that deliver in the clamp.”
To learn more about how any of these varieties could perform on your farm, click the links below;
LG Maize
LG Winter Wheat
LG Winter Barley
LG OSR
- * Data: 2024/25 AHDB RL / *2-row winter barley. 2024 BSPB NIAB Forage Maize Descriptive List – First choice varieties for favourable sites by ME yield of fresh plant at harvest (‘000s MJ/ha)
Limagrain UK is pleased to announce that the impending ban on maize seed treatments has been lifted following a successful lobbying campaign, with the granting of Emergency Authorisations allowing seed treated with three key seed treatments to be imported into and grown in the UK in 2024.
The future viability of maize being grown in the UK has been in question due to an impending ban on seed treatments not registered for use in the UK. These include Korit (ziram) bird deterrent, Redigo M (prothioconazole + metalaxyl) fungicide and Force 20 CS (tefluthrin) insecticide, with the use of all three products due to be banned from 31st December 2023. After this date it would have been illegal to import, sell or sow any seed which has been treated with any of these products, putting into doubt the future viability of maize grown for livestock forage or as a feedstock for anaerobic digestion (AD) plants.
Tim Richmond
“Without a suitable bird repellent, insecticide and fungicide, there’s a substantial risk that newly drilled crops could be completely wiped out by corvid grazing, or seriously hindered by insect damage and soil-borne pathogens,” explains Tim Richmond, Maize Manager for Limagrain Field Seeds in the UK and Ireland.
“To counter the ban, which has threatened the industry as a result of the UK’s departure from the EU, Limagrain set up and spearheaded an industry working group to lobby the Government into taking action. We can now announce that all three products have been granted an Emergency Authorisation, meaning that treated seed will be allowed to be imported into, and used in the UK next year.”
But the campaign doesn’t end here Mr Richmond continues. “Whilst the emergency use authorisations are a significant win for the industry, they are by no means a permanent solution. We are therefore continuing to lobby on behalf of all UK maize growers to secure a more sustainable solution in the form of a longer-term delay on the ban which will require a change in UK law, and will encourage the CRD (Chemicals Regulation Division) to ensure the next generation of maize seed treatments are approved at a regulatory level as quickly as possible.”