growing maize

[watfordfrosty]

neighbour has enquired about us growing some maize for him about 20 Ha ,what would be some ball park figures for growing ,ie seed ,planting,fert,harvesting cost,as its a crop i have never grown,i need an idea of costs so i can agree a selling price per tonne,we have our own clamp an would sell out during the winter.

 

[Great In Grass]

@Wilberforce

 

[Wilberforce]

@Wilberforce

Hi,

Seed could be any where between £50/75 acre depending on how modern/enlightened you wish to be.

Fert, Starter fert always worth it £18/20 acre. Rest of it depends on what manure you have available. Don't over do the N, but feel free to go heavy with the K. Use RB209 and soil tests to act as a base.

Sprays usually one pre em and one post em. Should be no more than £25/acre.

Contract drill £13/acre and harvest full job should be £55/60 acre. We work expecting a 15 ton acre crop, but have been happy to average 17 ton/acre for the last few years.

If selling out of your clamp, make sure you have a discussion about DM. Big difference in selling weights from 28 to 35% DM. . . ..

 

[ollie989898]

neighbour has enquired about us growing some maize for him about 20 Ha ,what would be some ball park figures for growing ,ie seed ,planting,fert,harvesting cost,as its a crop i have never grown,i need an idea of costs so i can agree a selling price per tonne,we have our own clamp an would sell out during the winter.

Why do you want the risk of having to sell it??

Make the neighbour buy the seed so he is tied in. Then do the work and charge him a contracting fee. Let him pay to harvest it.

Need soil tests to start with. Wilbers costs above are pretty spot on.

 

[watfordfrosty]

good advice ollie we are just talking at the moment it would suit us because it will extend the osr break to 1 in six instead of 1in 3 if we can work it fairly and the costings stack up then both parties will benefit.what soil tests do you need anything special or just the standard NRM

 

[watfordfrosty]

Hi,

Seed could be any where between £50/75 acre depending on how modern/enlightened you wish to be.

Fert, Starter fert always worth it £18/20 acre. Rest of it depends on what manure you have available. Don't over do the N, but feel free to go heavy with the K. Use RB209 and soil tests to act as a base.

Sprays usually one pre em and one post em. Should be no more than £25/acre.

Contract drill £13/acre and harvest full job should be £55/60 acre. We work expecting a 15 ton acre crop, but have been happy to average 17 ton/acre for the last few years.

If selling out of your clamp, make sure you have a discussion about DM. Big difference in selling weights from 28 to 35% DM. . . ..

thank you as good base to start,how good a break is maize for wheat assuming the weather plays ball and you get reasonable seedbed and drilling date

 

[Cow1]

I would buy some off you if I was closer [emoji6]

 

[ollie989898]

thank you as good base to start,how good a break is maize for wheat assuming the weather plays ball and you get reasonable seedbed and drilling date

Maize is a good break but can be an issue with fusarium.

Obviously you will be drilling later: choose a variety that moves fast in the autumn and up the sowing rate.

You will not get slugs attack a crop after maize so a quick go with a cultuvator to pull the wheel marks out and claydon the wheat in. Pre em and it will go fine.

Opportunity to use some alternative chemistry in maize in spring.

I would normally insist the man taking the maize spreads slurry on the ground to ensure he is not robbing your P and K.

 

[DRC]

I grow maize for two different farms, one AD who pay 90p per ton of DM , and a dairy farm that pays an pre agreed price per acre, depending on price of cereals etc, will be around the £470-£500 acre. Dairy farm also rent my pit. Both pay all harvesting costs and sheet the pit etc.
You really need copious amounts of muck to grow a decent crop of maize, which we have, as dairy farm brings slurry and we do a straw for muck swap with local pig farm.
There’s obviously costs of muckspreading, lime if needed, ploughing and seed bed preparation .
It suits us in a rotation after winter barley, as we can then grow stubble turnips before the maize, then it always grows a very good crop of wheat afterwards, helped by the muck.
The estate which my son manages, drill using their own cereal drill and then apply liquid fert on the seedbed, with good results, and cutting out the contractor drilling charge and starter fertiliser .
I wish I could use all the farm for maize, but it really is a gamble on heavy land as seedbed gets too dry and cloddy and in a wet year , you can make a mess harvesting .

 

[DRC]

Maize is a good break but can be an issue with fusarium.

Obviously you will be drilling later: choose a variety that moves fast in the autumn and up the sowing rate.

You will not get slugs attack a crop after maize so a quick go with a cultuvator to pull the wheel marks out and claydon the wheat in. Pre em and it will go fine.

Opportunity to use some alternative chemistry in maize in spring.

I would normally insist the man taking the maize spreads slurry on the ground to ensure he is not robbing your P and K.

Better off ploughing to combat fusarium

 

[ollie989898]

Better off ploughing to combat fusarium

Choose variety to combat it. In a catchy autumn might not be time to plough just drill it. With no slugs and ample moisture you can get away with murder.

 

[watfordfrosty]

good point on the stubble turnips shame i havnt got a decent neighbour to graze them

 

[Boysground]

I grow my own maize and buy in on various deals all fed to cows. Some as standing crop at a fixed price per acre, some I do a straight rent of the field for a year and finally some I buy in on a DM basis. Each has its pros and cons and its all down to whoever I buy it from and how they want to work. @Wilberforce is not far off with his costs although I would say my contractor charges are a little higher down here.

I dont use starter fertilizer because I have mostly high phosphate indexes and I haven't seen any benefit on my soils when I have tried it. As has been said the more FYM the better. 1 of the guys I buy from uses chicken muck and that is the best crop every year. Usually I drill using my vaderstad rapid drill set up for maize but if you are new to the crop I would say use a proper maize drill. Dont try and save money on herbicides you will regret it in the following crop and poor weed control will reduce maize yeild. Too much N delays harvest as does too high a seed rate.

Do not be tempted to cut too early, it will be too wet and your customer wont be back, so it can be a waiting game. I have cut plenty of maize in November. I try and mintill wheat in after but it is all down to the soil, and amount of residue.1 field I have has a fine wheat crop on it this year, it was direct drilled the day after the maize was cut. Make sure the harvest contractor has trailers with decent tyres, no super singles. Following wheat T3s are robust, I feed most of the wheat I grow on this farm and I havent had big fusarium issues but I do see it.

It is a great break crop and gives you another chance for Black Grass control, if it was me I would give it a go.

Bg

 

[ollie989898]

I grow my own maize and buy in on various deals all fed to cows. Some as standing crop at a fixed price per acre, some I do a straight rent of the field for a year and finally some I buy in on a DM basis. Each has its pros and cons and its all down to whoever I buy it from and how they want to work. @Wilberforce is not far off with his costs although I would say my contractor charges are a little higher down here.

I dont use starter fertilizer because I have mostly high phosphate indexes and I haven't seen any benefit on my soils when I have tried it. As has been said the more FYM the better. 1 of the guys I buy from uses chicken muck and that is the best crop every year. Usually I drill using my vaderstad rapid drill set up for maize but if you are new to the crop I would say use a proper maize drill. Dont try and save money on herbicides you will regret it in the following crop and poor weed control will reduce maize yeild. Too much N delays harvest as does too high a seed rate.

Do not be tempted to cut too early, it will be too wet and your customer wont be back, so it can be a waiting game. I have cut plenty of maize in November. I try and mintill wheat in after but it is all down to the soil, and amount of residue.1 field I have has a fine wheat crop on it this year, it was direct drilled the day after the maize was cut. Make sure the harvest contractor has trailers with decent tyres, no super singles. Following wheat T3s are robust, I feed most of the wheat I grow on this farm and I havent had big fusarium issues but I do see it.

It is a great break crop and gives you another chance for Black Grass control, if it was me I would give it a go.

Bg

As you say its win win win win. Get it right with weed control and the stubble is clean come harvest. So easy.

 

[Wilberforce]

thank you as good base to start,how good a break is maize for wheat assuming the weather plays ball and you get reasonable seedbed and drilling date

As a break it's probably no better/worse than anything else. Although the mid to late Oct drilling following maize, means no Autumn insecticides are used. Quite often the wheat pre em is skipped with no detrimental effects. Also don't use slug pellets, although the light land/,peat soils are not slug prone. Dare I even say the plough based system keeps the grass weeds in check. . . .

 

[betweenthelines]

Surely a good opportunity for a short term share farming agreement?

You provide the land and machinery and get a percentage of the value of the crop he pays for seed fert and your share of the crop.

 

[DRC]

Surely a good opportunity for a short term share farming agreement?

You provide the land and machinery and get a percentage of the value of the crop he pays for seed fert and your share of the crop.

Why complicate it. Just grow it like growing any other crop and get paid on yield. The better job you do, the more money you get .

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Maize sells for £30 to £35 ex clamp winter if that's any help I suspect at that price your boat is sunk

 

[pappuller]

neighbour has enquired about us growing some maize for him about 20 Ha ,what would be some ball park figures for growing ,ie seed ,planting,fert,harvesting cost,as its a crop i have never grown,i need an idea of costs so i can agree a selling price per tonne,we have our own clamp an would sell out during the winter.

We have just planted 32 acres on some land nxt door. It is going to cost around £250/£300 + rent to get it to harvesting so in my opinion it needs to be £500/acre if you are putting it in your neighbours clamp. We have limed and used seed at £74

 

[DRC]

Maize sells for £30 to £35 ex clamp winter if that's any help I suspect at that price your boat is sunk

Why’s that?