This is how you achieve the highest VEM yield with maize

Maize in the dairy cattle ration provides the necessary energy for efficient milk production. The VEM yield of maize is matched by no other crop. How do you maximize the value of maize cultivation by achieving the highest possible VEM yield?

You do not have to purchase any VEM that you bring from your own country and use. It therefore always pays to pay attention to your maize cultivation. With these practical tips you go for maximum return from your maize.

The bottom is the base
An open door, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. For example, the pH on many maize plots is too low, which means that minerals are less easily absorbed. Sample the soil and raise the pH to 6 where necessary.

In addition to a low pH, soil compaction/structural damage in many maize fields in particular causes yield loss: this can quickly result in a 10% - 20% less harvest! Compaction hinders root growth and thus nutrient absorption, disrupts water management and hinders soil life.

Soil compaction is difficult to repair, so prevention is the key. Good drainage and only carrying out operations when the land is sufficiently dry are basic conditions. The harvest is also a crucial moment in maize cultivation: chopping in wet conditions can be disastrous. Therefore, opt for ultra-early varieties on colder soils and for very early/early maize varieties on lighter soils. In terms of yield potential, the early LG maize varieties are hardly inferior to mid-early varieties, but they are ripe for harvesting much earlier. Check out LG's early varieties.

Tip: with the digital platform Agrility you get an exact picture of the yield distribution in your maize field. This allows you to apply targeted soil improvement in strips that are lagging behind in yield. How it works.

A good variety choice
The choice of maize varieties is also a link in achieving the highest VEM yield. With these tips you make the right choice:

• Choose a variety that scores well in the right earliness kVEM/ha: that is the combination of yield and quality; the total feed value yield delivered by the maize variety in the trials;
• Look at you ration: a high starch content is welcome in a grass-rich ration; if you feed a lot of maize then an average starch content is better;
• Varieties with one early bloom are less susceptible to drought damage.

Ensure a smooth start
Problems in the initial phase, such as poor emergence or being eaten by insects and birds, can significantly reduce the dry matter yield of maize. Now that chemical seed treatments are being phased out, it is even more important to ensure good conditions:

• Provide one flat, tight seedbed, loose to the sowing depth, not too fine and not too coarse, roll if necessary after sowing;
• Sow in a sufficient amount warm bottom and with good weather forecasts, so that the maize germinates quickly and grows quickly to the 6-leaf stage;
• Sow in (chance of) drought and/or bird damage a little deeper than usual;
• Use the Star cover coating on LG corn seed. This ensures a smoother start and entitles you to the free Corn service in case of bird damage.

Harvest at the right time
At the end of the growing season, chopping at the optimal time is decisive for the nutritional value you get in the silage. Harvesting too early results in juice losses, acidification of the silage, less feed intake and a lower VEM and starch. If you harvest too late, you have a greater chance of overheating in the silage, lower digestibility and poorer utilization and palatability. In both cases it costs a lot of nutritional value! So keep a close eye on the ripening and harvest at the right time.

Tip: the digital platform Agrility takes the chopping planning out of your hands. In the platform you can closely monitor the ripening process and you get a reliable prediction of the course of the ripening process, so that you can schedule the contractor well in time! How it works.

Also go for the highest kVEM/ha next season!

• Check out the recommended LG corn varieties
• Read more about Agrility
• Ask your roughage specialist for tailor-made advice

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