THERE'S no doubt that maize favours warm, sunny conditions - but the latest varieties prove that the crop can be a success even during a wet and dismal Northern Ireland summer.

Maize has the potential to make high quality silage for dairy cattle, beef and sheep at less cost than silage made from grass.

Research has shown that maize silage in the diet of dairy cows may increase forage intake, milk yield and milk protein content. Supplementation with concentrates can also be reduced (allowing farmers to improve     profitability).

Dairy farmer Wesley Morrow, from Dromore, finished harvesting 50 acres of the variety LG 31.93 and is delighted with his crop."I've been growing other varieties of maize for the past seven years, and have had reasonably good success to date," he said.

"This year, after speaking to Bertie Kyle, the local Nickerson Direct representative, I decided to try  LG 31.93. Bertie told me this variety had been coming out top in tests - especially for maize grown under plastic.

"We planted 50 acres in late April and, in spite of having a summer when it seemed to rain nearly every day, the crop has preformed great. It has plenty of good, well filled-out cobs with plenty of grain.
"It shows that the right variety can still be grown in a bad year."

Wesley feeds his 180-cow dairy herd - made up of both Brown Swiss and Holstein  animals - a 50:50 mix of grass and maize silage. He keeps the cows indoors and     operates a three-times-per-day milking     system.
"The cows do well on it," he said.
"One of the things I notice is that it helps keep condition on cows - especially the big Holstein cows"

Bertie Kyle, from Nickerson Direct, said it was the best maize he had seen this year.
"It's been a difficult summer weather-wise and I think this crop has coped with that particularly well," he said.
DARD researchers accept that good quality maize silage (30 percent DM, 30 percent starch) can boost milk yield and milk protein content, but question if there is a significant financial benefits compared to growing grass. This is in part due to the increased costs of establishment, using plastic mulch and harvesting.

One researcher describes the potential benefits as "intangible or, at best, very difficult to financially quantify". Results from DARD's most recent Greenmount dairy benchmarking report also indicate that good grass and silage can match the results from either maize or wholecrop silage.

However, Bertie Kyle believes there is strong case for more maize on Northern Ireland farms.
"If you can grow maize, and grow it successfully, then it makes a super compliment to growing grass," he said.
"Maize is an excellent energy-starch feed that farmers can use along with grass to provide nutrition for livestock. The important thing is that dry matter needs to be reasonable and that's where the new maize varieties such as LG 31.93 can help, especially in Northern Ireland with our wet summers!"

Maize is very sensitive to temperature. It is generally agreed that choosing a favourable site is an important key to success with the crop.
Most areas are suitable provided that the site is below 400 feet in altitude, with south-facing sheltered sites being the best.Harvesting forage maize anywhere between 28 and 32% dry matter content is recommended to give the ideal combination of digestibility, starch content and dry matter yield factors.
However, the cob size and starch content is key to producing high quality forage maize silage. The cob is the last part of the crop to mature and experts warn that the full value of many good crops is often lost due to harvesting too early.