While warmth and humidity often create excellent growing conditions for maize throughout the end of summer and into autumn, the heavier rainfall over the past few months has caused some denitrification and created issues with harvesting.
Farm Source's Technical Sales Representative (TSR) for Te Aroha and Paeroa Ryan Jackson says this year has been a challenging one weather wise.
"This year has been out of the box so far weather wise and we have had quite the mixed bag of yields and dry matter (DM). We've had some brilliant results with maize plants still very green and healthy when cobs have reached full maturity and starch levels. This has given us a high yield of quality, palatable silage and the moisture left in the stova has kept DM low (34-35% DM). On the other hand, the wet weather has left some growers unable to get machinery onto wet paddocks and crops have dried right down (40%+ DM) which for the most part is still going to provide quality maize silage but has caused a few headaches."
"It's not very often I'm recommending that growers wait an additional week or 10 days to harvest but this year that's often been the case. The recommendation for maize is for it to be reading at least 32% DM for it to be harvested and ensiled properly, and if we want to achieve as much cob fill as possible, this year, while challenging weather wise, has allowed that,"
- Ryan Jackson, Farm Source TSR
"And adding the right inoculant can help to ensure the fermentation process for the silage starts strong. Inoculant has been an absolute must this year."
An inoculant is a form of live bacteria used to help the fermentation process of silage start successfully.
Maize is an ideal crop to turn into silage or grain feed options.
Maize is one of the most efficient plants at converting radiation into biomass, with every 100 megajoules (MJ) of radiation inception seeing 1.6 tonnes of dry matter per hectare (DM/h) according to DairyNZ.
For every kilogram of maize silage DM your herd gets 10.3 MJ of metabolic energy, and for every kg of maize grain DM, your herd gets 13.6 MJ of metabolic energy. That nutritional value makes it a vital crop for feed supply, and it all starts out with ensuring your soils are ready to grow a good hybrid option, Ryan says.
"Making sure you undertake soil testing on the paddocks you are going to seed, and make sure you have used the right nutrients in preparation for the crop," he says. "It's important to talk to your TSR to decide on what variety you want - there are a lot of really strong hybrid options available, and you have a range of maturity options to suit your farm system. Traditionally, you want to be sowing your maize around the end of October, but you can lock in your seed order now."
For more information on how maize can work in your farming system, contact your local Farm Source TSR.