Roughage tour Week 16
Sow corn in cold soil or wait a while?
As the cold spring continues, the sowing dates of silage maize are being postponed. Does it pay to sow later or does it not compensate for the loss in growing weeks?
The corn land has been fertilized and is ready to be sown. The only thing that still throws a spanner in the works are the cold temperatures. Roughage Tour participants are already on the starting blocks in the south of the country.
To sow or not to sow
On the lighter and warm soils, the soil temperature is just above 10 degrees and can therefore be suitable for sowing maize. This minimum soil temperature for corn sowing carries risks. Due to the slower germination process, the young plant is exposed to fungi and insects for longer.
An early harvest is therefore not a 1-to-1 relationship with early sowing. Flowering starts after the longest day and therefore an early harvest is more dependent on the growing conditions, the maize variety and the temperature than the sowing date.
The image above shows an forecast of the temperature trend in the coming week. For example, the temperatures remain almost the same with a slight decrease. ''It is better to wait for the right soil temperature. It will not increase spectacularly in the coming days, on the contrary. So just a little patience, it will certainly be rewarded," adds Jan Roothaert, product manager livestock farming at Limagrain.
Limagrain sets out the conditions for optimal sowing maize for silage here.
Erik van der Deure
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