Corn/grain maize in uk?

Fascinates me how corn is now grown for grain in so many areas it never used to be, Just curious how much is grown in Uk for dry grain?

In my area in Ontario(canada) corn for grain wasn't even a popular thing before 2000ish neither was soybeans but now they make up a big chunk of the crops in the area

What are the yields and moistures like? Here I can run between 3-4 tonnes/acre converted to dry weight. 118-155 or so bushels per acre in a decent year. Problem is in this region can be low bushel weight when early frost comes. But a lot better than it used to be. And are you using roundup resistant corn or would it be non gmo conventional?
 

Against_the_grain

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
S.E
We have just had our 2nd corn harvest in the south east and whilst at the moment it's still very niche I think it will grow in popularity in the future.
As a crop imo its got a few issues that need to be addressed before it becomes more widespread. The main issue is drying. Drying grain from high 20s early 30s is very expensive and time consuming. It also holds the combine up as it won't store for much more than 24 hours at that so you can only cut what you can dry in a set period. I have to admit it feels very anti climate friendly burning very large amounts of fuel drying it in November and watching the steam from the dryer pour off.
Also harvest residues and following cultivations/cropping on heavy land in late Autumn/early winter are a challenge. Ideally harvest needs to be a month earlier. Soil erosion issues and fixed costs from expensive combines/drills/Dryers are also a consideration.

On the plus side the 2 years we have grown it it has been our best gross margin with yields ranging from 9-11t/ha dry. Its cheapish to grow as well and switching to a more spring sown rotation could potentially bring some advantages from a soil health/manure point of view.
It's all non gmo obviously here.
 

AndrewM

Member
BASIS
Location
Devon
cooler summers and wet autumns, means harvest is late and requires alot of drying. ive seen it done in many places, but it doesnt seem to take off in popularity. alot is grown to make silage for biogas digestors. GM tec is still banned in the uk. with our mild winters, its usually easier to grow a winter cereal crop if you want the grain.
 

upnortheast

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Northumberland
Seem to recall the seed sellers & machinery sellers gave grain maize a big push, maybe 12 / 15 years ago in the midlands & south.. Contractors spent megabucks on kit but it never took off
As @AndrewM says above, UK maritime climate means there are better, cheaper & easier options
 
Yeah I imagine it has its challenges in your climate. It's almost similar to my specific part on the province, was never enough season heat units to mature but with better hybrids and weather getting a bit warmer it does alright now.

I think most here take off between 20-25% and it is quite costly here for drying too especially on propane vs nat gas. I've left mine out over winter with minimal loss and down to 15-17% by spring harvest
 
Seem to recall the seed sellers & machinery sellers gave grain maize a big push, maybe 12 / 15 years ago in the midlands & south.. Contractors spent megabucks on kit but it never took off
As @AndrewM says above, UK maritime climate means there are better, cheaper & easier options
That’s when we tried it. 3t/ac. £25/t under feed wheat price. Horrendous weed issue. Higher cost than normal to get the following wheat in due to the trash levels and then that wheat crop had mycotoxins.
High establishment costs also. Maize mines soil nutrients.

I think people jumping into it will be in for a shock in years to come.
 

Pan mixer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Near Colchester
We have just had our 2nd corn harvest in the south east and whilst at the moment it's still very niche I think it will grow in popularity in the future.
As a crop imo its got a few issues that need to be addressed before it becomes more widespread. The main issue is drying. Drying grain from high 20s early 30s is very expensive and time consuming. It also holds the combine up as it won't store for much more than 24 hours at that so you can only cut what you can dry in a set period. I have to admit it feels very anti climate friendly burning very large amounts of fuel drying it in November and watching the steam from the dryer pour off.
Also harvest residues and following cultivations/cropping on heavy land in late Autumn/early winter are a challenge. Ideally harvest needs to be a month earlier. Soil erosion issues and fixed costs from expensive combines/drills/Dryers are also a consideration.

On the plus side the 2 years we have grown it it has been our best gross margin with yields ranging from 9-11t/ha dry. Its cheapish to grow as well and switching to a more spring sown rotation could potentially bring some advantages from a soil health/manure point of view.
It's all non gmo obviously here.
I could see the steam from mine. That residue does look bulky though, some of the US farmers bale it but I guess that it is difficult to row up.
 

doogie7530

New Member
Location
cheshire
We tried it this year yielded 4t/acre dried, on some very light land that you wouldn't achieve much more than 2.5t/acre. Price was £240 ex Nov.
IMG_20211105_113459044_HDR.jpg
IMG_20211106_105131276.jpg
 

puntabrava

Member
Location
Wiltshire
We have just had our 2nd corn harvest in the south east and whilst at the moment it's still very niche I think it will grow in popularity in the future.
As a crop imo its got a few issues that need to be addressed before it becomes more widespread. The main issue is drying. Drying grain from high 20s early 30s is very expensive and time consuming. It also holds the combine up as it won't store for much more than 24 hours at that so you can only cut what you can dry in a set period. I have to admit it feels very anti climate friendly burning very large amounts of fuel drying it in November and watching the steam from the dryer pour off.
Also harvest residues and following cultivations/cropping on heavy land in late Autumn/early winter are a challenge. Ideally harvest needs to be a month earlier. Soil erosion issues and fixed costs from expensive combines/drills/Dryers are also a consideration.

On the plus side the 2 years we have grown it it has been our best gross margin with yields ranging from 9-11t/ha dry. Its cheapish to grow as well and switching to a more spring sown rotation could potentially bring some advantages from a soil health/manure point of view.
It's all non gmo obviously here.
Velcourt are bashing away at it in Wiltshire, seem to be doing part fields then changing farms, your post about the drying time explains that reason. One grower said the other day he thought £40 ton in diesel to dry it and he caught his dryer alight last year, said it was unused to running at full chat like that.
Do you need special plates of some sort in the combines to strip the kernels?
 

quattro

Member
Location
scotland
We have just had our 2nd corn harvest in the south east and whilst at the moment it's still very niche I think it will grow in popularity in the future.
As a crop imo its got a few issues that need to be addressed before it becomes more widespread. The main issue is drying. Drying grain from high 20s early 30s is very expensive and time consuming. It also holds the combine up as it won't store for much more than 24 hours at that so you can only cut what you can dry in a set period. I have to admit it feels very anti climate friendly burning very large amounts of fuel drying it in November and watching the steam from the dryer pour off.
Also harvest residues and following cultivations/cropping on heavy land in late Autumn/early winter are a challenge. Ideally harvest needs to be a month earlier. Soil erosion issues and fixed costs from expensive combines/drills/Dryers are also a consideration.

On the plus side the 2 years we have grown it it has been our best gross margin with yields ranging from 9-11t/ha dry. Its cheapish to grow as well and switching to a more spring sown rotation could potentially bring some advantages from a soil health/manure point of view.
It's all non gmo obviously here.
Drying at 20-30% up here would nearly be the normal
 
doogie7530
That's not a bad yield at all! Same as what I got over here this yr, In the longer season areas though further south in Ontario they can get 5-6t/acre.
I sold at $261 a tonne Canadian so a lot less than you are getting.

What seeding population and hybrid is that?
 

doogie7530

New Member
Location
cheshire
doogie7530
That's not a bad yield at all! Same as what I got over here this yr, In the longer season areas though further south in Ontario they can get 5-6t/acre.
I sold at $261 a tonne Canadian so a lot less than you are getting.

What seeding population and hybrid is that?
Seed rate was 40000/acre, and the variety was Glory which I assume is a hybrid. Very pleased with the crop, if we'd had our own header for our combine we would have probably left it a bit longer to dry down a bit more.
 

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