Maize 2021

Location
Cheshire
Could be disappointing, I have one light field in with stronger land waiting for dry weather. I could have drilled a month ago but soil temperatures were very low, I'm not seeing any evidence yet that we missed a trick as nothing is showing for earlier sowings. It looks very likely that some of my maize ground will switch into grass as I can't take the fall out from late harvesting, plus the risk of 2012 style yields.
 

pappuller

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
M6 Hard shoulder
Could be disappointing, I have one light field in with stronger land waiting for dry weather. I could have drilled a month ago but soil temperatures were very low, I'm not seeing any evidence yet that we missed a trick as nothing is showing for earlier sowings. It looks very likely that some of my maize ground will switch into grass as I can't take the fall out from late harvesting, plus the risk of 2012 style yields.
We sowed everything 3 weeks today and just seeing emergence, we have a grass field we shall take for 2nd cut next week and then plant maize
 

Jamer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Glos
I think any later drilled crops will match the earlier, round here. April cold and dry and if it warms up soon it will all be somewhere near. @Will Blackburn , I thought you didn’t grow maize? I seem to remember a comment about soil structure damage a few years ago?
 
Location
Cheshire
I think any later drilled crops will match the earlier, round here. April cold and dry and if it warms up soon it will all be somewhere near. @Will Blackburn , I thought you didn’t grow maize? I seem to remember a comment about soil structure damage a few years ago?
We stopped then started when we took short term land after growing cow numbers. Now we've got enough land we'll pull back once again, after permanent crops are established after tidying up the farm.
 
Could be disappointing, I have one light field in with stronger land waiting for dry weather. I could have drilled a month ago but soil temperatures were very low, I'm not seeing any evidence yet that we missed a trick as nothing is showing for earlier sowings. It looks very likely that some of my maize ground will switch into grass as I can't take the fall out from late harvesting, plus the risk of 2012 style yields.

There is no way I would have put maize in down here a month ago, it was so cold at night.
 

Sparkymark

Member
Really? All our plastic blew off 3 weeks ago then the maize got a w4anking from the frost for a week. Looks sh!t

IMG_6480.JPG

This is the difference in mine, shown on a bit that missed plastic.
My conventional was drilled 3 weeks ago only just emerging and looking a sickly shade of yellow.
 

Homesy

Member
Location
North West Devon
Could be disappointing, I have one light field in with stronger land waiting for dry weather. I could have drilled a month ago but soil temperatures were very low, I'm not seeing any evidence yet that we missed a trick as nothing is showing for earlier sowings. It looks very likely that some of my maize ground will switch into grass as I can't take the fall out from late harvesting, plus the risk of 2012 style yields.
On our previous farm back in 2006, we planted half on May 8th then got rained off. All ground was worked so the half that wasn't planted went to pudding. Planted the rest on June 8th. The early stuff took over 3 weeks to emerge. The later took 3 days and overtook the early and out yielded it. It is way to early to say what is going to happen yet. It all depends what comes now. Maize should never go into cold soil. People were planting it way too early just because it was dry. Had it stayed dry it may have been the correct thing to do but with the rain probably wrong. Good thing, hindsight. I wouldn't write anything off just yet.
 
On our previous farm back in 2006, we planted half on May 8th then got rained off. All ground was worked so the half that wasn't planted went to pudding. Planted the rest on June 8th. The early stuff took over 3 weeks to emerge. The later took 3 days and overtook the early and out yielded it. It is way to early to say what is going to happen yet. It all depends what comes now. Maize should never go into cold soil. People were planting it way too early just because it was dry. Had it stayed dry it may have been the correct thing to do but with the rain probably wrong. Good thing, hindsight. I wouldn't write anything off just yet.

I don't and never will understand people who go out and drill maize at the earliest opportunity when it is cold as hell. It is a tropical plant for goodnessake.
 
Location
West Wales
I don't and never will understand people who go out and drill maize at the earliest opportunity when it is cold as hell. It is a tropical plant for goodnessake.

my understanding is all that matters is heat units. Ie it needs 200 heat units to mature. Time is irrelevant. This is why I believe they can grow it In Calafornia in 150 odd days
 
my understanding is all that matters is heat units. Ie it needs 200 heat units to mature. Time is irrelevant. This is why I believe they can grow it In Calafornia in 150 odd days

The varieties grown in California will be different, with a widely different ratio of flint to dent genetics. North America has serious temperatures and in some states I understand they can grow two crops in a single year.

Maize is a weird plant. Some strains of maize are actually aquatic, others are even perennial. The varieties we grow need good soil temperatures to germinate and thrive. In cold soils, its ability to find phosphate is really hampered and it has grief growing at all. It's very very important it's adventitious roots find phosphate very early on hence the use of starter fertilisers.
 

rusty

Member
The varieties grown in California will be different, with a widely different ratio of flint to dent genetics. North America has serious temperatures and in some states I understand they can grow two crops in a single year.

Maize is a weird plant. Some strains of maize are actually aquatic, others are even perennial. The varieties we grow need good soil temperatures to germinate and thrive. In cold soils, its ability to find phosphate is really hampered and it has grief growing at all. It's very very important it's adventitious roots find phosphate very early on hence the use of starter fertilisers.
While I was on Holiday in Florida I visited a dairy farm near Sarasota where they were growing 2 crops of maize per year plus a cereal crop as well. The soil looked almost like beach sand.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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