Excellent article on agriland.ie by Richard Halleron on October 3 2023 re the future of Maize in Ireland.
Well worth a read ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Maize Silage – is the ultimate forage for milk production in Dairy Cows and for finishing Beef Cattle. It combines the two key components of health and performance because of its very high energy levels combined with its excellent digestability and high DM characteristics.
Maize is an ideal complement to Grass silage and is even better again with early spring grazed grass. Nutritional short falls in grass and grass silage are balanced and complemented with Maize in the diet and vice versa.
In terms of the cost of production of maize silage, Teagasc figures show clearly now that maize is cheaper per tonne of DM to produce than first cut silage, and significantly cheaper than 2nd and subsequent cuts.
Maize has serious capacity to utilise slurry thereby reducing the cost of chemical fertilisers without the risk of contaminating maize forage like sometimes can happen when slurry is applied on to grass for grazing or grass for silage.
With the range of maize seed variety types available to us today, and the support of our key supplier – Pioneer, the worlds major Maize seed breeder, we can help many more farmers utilise this superior forage. Matching variety to customer requirement and site capacity is a skill learned only by years of experience with the crop.
Growing maize under degradable plastic, while not necessary in every situation is certainly a big insurance against the one year in 10 or 12 years when we can get very poor weather over the summer months. Degradable plastic cover can also make an exposed or challenging site for Maize into a very good site for Maize. Crops grown under plastic will always produce good results regardless of the weather.
Consistently higher maize yields & quality under plastic mean that maize grown under plastic is actually cheaper per tonne of DM compared to maize grown in the open!
Again this year, we have a range of maize seed varieties to suit customers requirements and the various fields and sites where maize is grown. Coupled with that we have a team of very experienced field crop specialists who have the interest, dedication and know-how to help our customers maximise results with your maize crops.
Start with booking your free soil sampling and lab test to see where your soil is in terms of Ph, NPK and some important trace elements. We have found serious savings for farmers on fertiliser costs from knowing where the soil nutrition level is. Once we return with results, then a proper nutrition / agronomy plan can be put in place to maximise the crop outcome in terms of yield and quality.
Remember along with saving money, proper Lime use is now shown as a major answer for farmers in environment improvement / protection and reduction in carbon emissions in Ireland.
When we combine good agronomy advise and good practice coupled with environmental consideration and improvement, we all win!
For; Jordan Agri
Eoin Jordan
(086) 3844606
We are delighted to be suppliers of Samco Blue plastic which is EXCLUSIVE to Jordan Agri. This Samco Blue plastic, promises easier laying for the contractor and for the farmer much more even plant break through which improves overall maize yield and starch quality.
Click above to download PACTS
See below a great article re diagnosing emergence issues, written by Gary Brinkman, CCA, CPAg, Pioneer Field Agronomist.
Click on photos to enlarge, for more details.
Jordan Agri Ltd has been to the forefront in the development and expansion of Forage Maize in Ireland since 1994. We became involved with Maize as far back as 1988 when the acreage in Ireland was not much more than a few hundred acres. Steadily over the years this has grown to almost 60,000 acres.
Jordan Agri conduct our own annual independent Maize and chemical trails. We trial the best varieties, from all the top breeders, for both Maize under film and in the open. This translates into us having first hand experience of how the varieties perform and to pick the optimum variety for your site. These include varieties on the recommended list such as P7905, P8200, P8201 and higher yielding varieties suitable for the Munster area. Contact your local area rep for variety details. Maize is a high yielding, high dry matter, high starch quality feed. Maize complements our grass based system in Ireland. The addition of quality Forage Maize in a mix with grass silage, or with grazed grass at spring and autumn time, has a very positive and cost effective impact on animal health and performance.
Our team at Jordan Agri Ltd have the knowledge and expertise to help the farmer, to grow and maximize their Maize crop. Where the end goal is a cost effective, high yielding, high quality Maize crop for our farmer customer.
To request a call back re Maize, click on the link below stating your location and your local area rep will ring you.
✅ High forage yield in a single cut. ( 60 ton / ha )
✅ High Dry Matter, high starch forage ( 30% plus )
✅ Extremely cost effective ( Teagasc cost and returns 2017 The cost per tonne dry matter utilised for maize is approximately €107 versus first cut grass silage at €130/tonne DM utilised ) Teagasc cost & Returns
✅ Slowly degradable starch
✅ High forage intakes
✅ Ideal buffer for spring and autumn grass
✅ Organic Manure / Slurry utilisation
✅ Improved animal performance and health
✅ Consistent forage quality where grown under film
✅ When maize is fed as part of a balanced diet it has the potential to lift milk yield and composition in the dairy herd and increase daily weight gains in beef cattle.
➡️ Peter is milking 100 Holstein Friesian cows in West Cork.
➡️The cows are spilt calving with 60% in the spring and 40% autumn.
➡️The average yield of the herd is 1,750 gallons (7,955 litres)
➡️ Peter started growing Maize 3 years ago under Plastic, for the previous 6 years Peter grew whole crop wheat for the cows
➡️ Peter finds that with Maize he is getting more value out of an acre of ground and it is as good as wheat for keeping protein and yield up.
➡️ Peter applies slurry to his Maize ground at approx 7000 gallons/ac reducing bagged fertiliser use.
➡️ On pit management- Peter finds it is important to have a long narrow pit that is rolled well when filling. Peter also uses an additive to prevent secondary heating. e.g. Pioneer 11A44
➡️ Peter grew 19 acres of Maize in 2011 and had a great yield of 23-25t/ac. This Peter attributes to a good site and the use of plastic.
➡️ Milk solids have improved since the cows began eating Maize Silage.
➡️ Peter finishes between 40 & 50 beef cattle and finds the Maize very good for finishing his cattle.
“I am very happy with maize since I started growing it and I will continue to grow it into the future”
➡️ John milks a high yielding 100 cow dairy herd and finishes the beef progeny.
➡️ He uses a mainly grass based system but finds Maize an integral part of the diet for both his cows and beef cattle.
➡️ He has been growing Maize successfully for many years, but for the last two years he has changed to growing Maize under plastic with excellent results.
➡️ John’s 2011 results came back with an impressive Starch level of 34.5%,Dry Matter of 28.2% and Protein of 7.3% from his 24-28 Tonne crop of Benicia under plastic. (independently tested)
➡️ John comments “Plastic acts as an insurance policy to achieve quality Maize and I wouldn’t grow Maize without plastic any more”.
➡️ With high yielding cows (1400-1500 gallons) and an average Milk Protein of 3.5% and Butter Fat of 4.2%, John finds buffer feeding maize after calving in spring drives yield and maintains high solids.
➡️ Maize is the perfect partner to spring grass”, John comments
➡️ Finishing cattle are also fed Maize in their diet. John finds the high quality Maize gives superb daily live weight gains and an increased kill out %.
➡️ As part of growing Maize with Jordan Agri, we take soil analysis. This determines the pH and nutrient level of the soil. From this we calculate what nutrients are needed to grow the Maize crop. We have done this on John’s farm over the years. John use on farm slurry/ manure to feed the crop, thus reducing the need for expensive bag fertilizer which John agrees is a big saving on costs. Finally, John says, “I am extremely happy with the quality of Maize under plastic and will be growing it again for the coming year”
To request this Jordan Agri Ltd brochure in full and for more information on Maize growing, Please Contact us
For more agronomy information regarding seed variety, rate, herbicide, fungicide, insecticide and nutrients please contact our Team of Experts as these change on an annual basis.
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