The important point for Neal and George Morris is that all enterprises are complementary to one another, with nothing done to the detriment of anything else. For this reason, they are constantly evolving their maize growing strategy, with earlier maturing varieties an essential element going forward. Neal says: "We aim to create a balance in everything we do. "With maize, we are looking for consistency, rather than necessarily pushing for the highest yields, and it is vital we have harvested a mature crop in time to plant winter wheat. "After the very challenging conditions we encountered in 2023, we have done things a little differently in 2024. "Instead of growing a single variety, we have looked at several different options, including the very early maturing Duke. This has delivered exactly what we had hoped, in terms of starch and dry matter, but most importantly it produced fully ripe cobs well before the end of September."
New Sontley Farm, near Wrexham, runs the large, high-yielding Erddig herd of pedigree Holstein Friesian milking cows on a conventional winter housed and summer grazed system.
Sexed Semen
With sexed semen used to optimise the production of replacement heifers, crossbred calves are retained and go into the farm's beef finishing system. In addition to a substantial arable acreage, the farm also runs a flock of breeding sheep. The ground is predominantly of a medium loam type, with some heavier land. Maize has been grown since 2000 and now extends to about 142 hectares (350 acres) each year. It usually follows barley in the rotation, with stubble turnips or an Italian ryegrass grown over winter preceding the maize. A lot of attention is paid to seedbed preparation, which Neal considers to be one of the most important aspects to successful maize growing. Neal says: "We burn off the preceding crop and apply generous quantities of farmyard manure before ploughing. After applying fertiliser on the furrow, we will then go over with a minimum tillage type of subsoiler to remove any compaction, and then a pass with a power harrow before drilling. "We never drill before May 1, and are then guided by soil temperatures, ideally getting the crop in before May 15. "This is to an extent gut feel, but we will also take valued guidance from our agronomists and maize seed suppliers Mark Hancock and Buddug Williams, who offer a wider perspective on conditions in the area.
"We do everything except forage chopping in-house, so we are completely in control of activity and can work best with the conditions."
Whereas it was once the policy at New Sontley Farm to roll after drilling – to enhance soil contact for the pre-emergence herbicide – Neal now considers the need to minimise compaction to be the greater priority.
A post-emergence herbicide will only be used if needed, with an assessment made at about four to six weeks after drilling, and nothing else is required after that.
Neal says: "One of the things we have been trying, with the aim of achieving more consistent maturity, is to vary seed rates.
"By dropping the seed rate slightly, by about 10% on our heavier ground, we have found we can create a more even cob maturity across the farm, which helps a lot when it comes to harvest. It is something we will continue to look at."
When it comes to determining harvest timing, Neal is experienced enough to know when cobs are mature and what the optimum date will be to achieve the most consistent forage stocks in the clamp.
The rule of thumb he has worked to for years is to start chopping on October 1, but this year he found that the Duke, one of the latest generation of ultra early varieties from Limagrain's breeding programme, was fully mature by around September 10.
Neal says: "We could have taken the Duke in the first half of September, which would have enabled us to drill the following wheat earlier, but we actually delayed harvesting until around 10 days later, because nothing else was ready and we did not want to have to re-open the clamp."
Harvesting is largely carried out in-house, with the exception of a contracted-in forage chopper.
Neal is not obsessed with yields, so does not measure them, but his contractor reports crops at New Sontley Farm to be well above average for the area
Forage ration
Maize makes up about 40% of the forage ration on a fresh weight basis, alongside grass silage. These are fed with a protein blend and concentrates in the parlour.
Neal says: "We want starch and energy for the ration, but the most important thing we need from our maize is that it provides a consistent feed source.
"It is a natural crop, grown within the balance of a sustainable rotation, that drives milk production. Earlier varieties, such as Duke, will help us to achieve these goals, even in the most challenging years."
Variety selection advice and information
THE first port of call when selecting a maize variety for any location should be to study the independent data provided by the BSPB/NIAB Forage Maize Descriptive List, which compares all major maize varieties across the key growing locations of the UK.
It compares them based on crop dry matter, crop yield, quality characteristics of starch and energy and agronomic data, such as lodging.
Growers can also access free tools, such as the LG Seeds Maize Manager App, to determine which variety or varieties are suited to their specific location.
The Maize Manager App uses the latest trials data and postcode-specific Met Office data to calculate Ontario Heat Unit accumulations for the specified location and processes this information to recommend relevant varieties.
In doing so, growers can easily select the optimum variety for their location.
The app also features a ‘Sowing Manager' tool, which calculates the optimum seeding rate for the chosen variety, and a ‘Maturity Manager' to determine if the selected location is likely to receive sufficient heat units to grow maize and to advice the optimum date for harvest.
The LG Maize Variety Selection Guide also provides a good comparison of the major varieties, as well as useful information on crop establishment, nutrition and bird, insect and disease control.
