Farmers in the South West who plan to grow maize during 2010 must take particular care to choose the correct site, select the correct variety and drill the crop at the right time in order to maximise its economic and nutritional potential, warns leading seed supplier Nickerson Direct .

“2009 was generally a very good year for maize, but high average yields and quality disguised tremendous variations in crop performance on individual farms throughout the UK,” emphasises Nickerson Direct Seed Specialist Simon Montgomery. “That was certainly the case in the South West of England, where many farmers produced exceptionally good crops but equally there were some extremely poor ones.

“Maize drilled during the last week of April, when conditions were ideal, raced through the early growth stages and started to tassel before cool, overcast, wet conditions arrived in late July and August. Conversely, late-sown crops which went in at the end of May or early June were generally, slower to develop and subsequently lacked the physical stature to take full advantage of the hot weather at the end of June and early July, especially on marginal sites.

Growth rates were checked by the very wet weather in August, with high levels of eyespot invading many crops that had not been given a protective spray. The combination of cool weather and lack of sunlight throughout the growing season reduced the number of heat units available to the crop and the level of photosynthesis activity, in some varieties extending their harvest dates. What was particularly interesting in trial sites in Devon and Cornwall was how close harvesting dates between different classes were.

“We’ve experienced this pattern of weather for the last three years now, so going forward, if this is going to become the norm, growers will need to plan planting strategies and harvesting dates very carefully. The old saying that to be successful maize should be ‘knee-high by the 4th of July’ still holds true, but chest high would be better! Given the high cost of growing maize, farmers simply cannot afford to produce anything less than high-quality, high-yielding crops.

‘The key requirements of soil type, pH, drainage, fertiliser and field aspect are well known, but other influences such as, plant population, placement and types of nutrients, even orientation of the rows to the sun can be equally important in marginal sites. This year, fields that were drilled North to South out-yielded those planted East to West by nearly 10 per cent and had higher dry matter because sunlight was better able to penetrate the crop canopy and consequently plants had access to more heat units and photosynthesised better. This is especially important in September and early October when the sun is lower in the sky and day length shorter whilst plants are reaching maturity. That’s why clean, green leaf area at this stage is vital, otherwise cobs don’t mature and starch and energy levels are poor.  The best maize silage is always made before the first frosts arrive’.

“Maize should only be drilled once the soil temperature, when measured at a depth of 10cm, has remained above 10°C for five consecutive days, using an appropriate seed rate. This year we saw some exceptionally good results from crops that were planted in good conditions at 45,000 seeds per acre, the rate at which the highest yields have traditionally been achieved under ideal conditions. Maize in more marginal conditions at high seed rate produces too much biomass early on, which reduces light penetration into the crop canopy, resulting in smaller cobs, lower starch levels and a later maturing plant”.

“Many maize growers also assume that in order to plant by 15th May and harvest by 10th October they have to use very early-maturing Group 9 or 10 varieties. Limagrain’s Beethoven(7), Lorado(7) and Nescio(5) all have very good compensatory behaviour and perform well at lower plant densities. Drilling an apparently later-maturing Group 6 or 7 variety at 38- 40,000 seeds/acre in marginal areas will therefore bring the harvesting date forward, but allow a bigger, better quality yield to be achieved.

“When choosing varieties it is also important to select those which do not ‘snout’, the name given to the tendency of the cob to grow through the end of the sheath which surrounds it. Varieties which did ‘snout’ this year were attacked by a range of pests, birds, rats and diseases such as smut and fusarium, which greatly reduce silage quality. However, Limagrain varieties such as Beethoven, Nescio and Award are bred to stay-green through to harvest and remain fully protected.”

Nickerson Maize products for the UK come from the enormously successful Limagrain Genetics (LG) programmes in France and the LG/Nickerson partnership is the leading supplier of maize varieties throughout most of Europe’s major maize markets.

• Beethoven is at the leading edge of a new generation of extremely high yielding, high quality varieties bred UK conditions. With Class 7 maturity, it is early to harvest, has massive dry matter yields, the highest of all MC7+ varieties on the Favourable List, combined with excellent digestibility for improved feeding quality.

• Nescio, an outstandingly reliable high-yielding variety with a fast cob dry-down, is suitable for all sites and produces the highest total energy output of any UK variety.

• Award, bred by Limagrain for UK conditions, offers Class 5 maturity and is suitable for all mainstream sites, with massive drymatter yields (the highest on the medium-early list) and superb energy yields, above most varieties on the Favourable List.

Simon Montgomery concludes:

“The key message is that all farmers need to think very carefully about how to grow and manage maize, while those who achieved poor crops of maize during the last three years need to consider whether they continue. They might be better off buying in high-quality maize silage from an arable neighbour and focusing their attention on producing good-quality grass to feed with it. Another option is to feed crimped grain maize with good-quality grass silage to produce a very high quality mixed forage.”

Further information can be obtained from Simon Montgomery at Nickerson Direct on 01472 370188.