High quality varieties drive performance

“We are looking to feed 65-70 per cent of the diet from home grown crops, both silage and wheat, in a TMR which also includes a protein blend, liquid feeds and protected fat,” James explains. “As the cows are housed all year round, we need to focus on producing the highest quality forage we can and have included maize at up to 70 per cent of forage dry matter in the past, although it is usually 50:50 with grass silage.

“I have no problem feeding higher inclusion rates of maize and we work with the available stocks. Our objective is to feed maize all year round and we find cow fertility tends to suffer if the proportion of maize has to be reduced. This year we have 2-3 months’ worth carried over which is ideal as it means this year’s crop can have more time in the clamp before it is fed.”

The family have been growing maize for around 12 years, typically around 250 acres a year, working closely with Ian Evans from Market Drayton based BCW who advises on variety selection and agronomy.

“James and Martin are very clear on what they want,” Ian comments. “They want varieties which will give the best ME levels so need good starch and high fibre digestibility. Once we have identified the varieties suited to growing on the farm, we look closely at starch, ME content and digestibility.”

As the farm is medium to heavy soil, Ian looks at varieties with maturity class 9 and 10 because it is essential the crop is harvested in time and in reasonable conditions.

“Every year a proportion of the crop is grown under plastic,” Ian continues. “This is to give a high starch crop which can be included in the diet sooner. It is usually sown two weeks ahead of the rest of the crop and will be harvested up to three weeks ahead of the main harvest. We could and probably should be drilling even sooner.”

This year 260 acres were planted in total, comprised entirely of Limagrain varieties including several that are Limagrain Animal Nutrition (LGAN) accredited. LGAN varieties are selected to have the genetic potential to deliver superior nutritional value, whilst maintaining excellent agronomic qualities and yield, thereby improving ration performance. To achieve LGAN status, the variety’s performance must be outstanding compared with average varieties that have been on the BSPB/NIAB List at least four years. Potential varieties are assessed on agronomic features as well as Cell Wall Digestibility (CWD), starch content, DM yield and total energy yield.

“While farmers rightly select on starch content, many are also starting to take more account of CWD which is a measure of the availability of the 50 per cent of energy in the crop which is in the vegetative parts of the plant,” Ian Evans continues.

Twenty acres of LGAN variety Ambition was grown under plastic to give the earlier crop. While it would have been possible to use a later maturing variety, Ambition can provide the quality the Evans require. The remaining acreage is predominantly LGAN Glory with some Yukon.

All varieties were sown at a seed rate of 42,000 seeds per acre. Full use is made of slurry in the fertiliser plan and 75kg of DAP is put down the spout. As much of the maize is grown continuously, with some fields carrying their seventh crop, Ian Evans pays close attention to weed control.

“We always plan on a pre-emergence herbicide if the weather allows, with post-emergence as a fall back. Some fields will get two applications to tidy up heavy weed burdens.”

Close attention to variety selection with an emphasis on cell wall digestibility as well as starch yield is paying benefits, but James Evans is also looking at how he manages the crop at harvest to maximise quality

“We had been struggling to get more than 30 per cent starch but now by focussing on quality varieties and also harvesting with a raised header to leave the least digestible part of the plant in the field, we have seen a real improvement.

“Although raising the header has reduced freshweight yield, dry matter yields have remained unchanged and starch was up at 38 per cent . The combination of cell wall digestibility and starch content mean we have fed maize silage at above 12MJ for all of the last year and are confident we will do the same this year.

“With cows averaging 11,200 litres, we need to ensure our forages have the best energy levels and this starts with selecting the right varieties,” James concludes.