The maize generally comes out of the ground reasonably well. The rainy weather and warm soil and days provide extra growth. The dairy farmers who participate in the Boerenbusiness Roughage tour all keep a close eye on the maize fields. How is the corn doing?
The heights of the maize differ considerably in the Netherlands. Traditionally, in the south of the country, maize is finished earlier than in the north. This has everything to do with the time of sowing, because in the south they were there earlier. Sander Vijverberg (ZH) and Silvain Kusters (L) had already sown around mid-April, while Bert Wissels (Gld) only had his maize seed in the ground mid-May. Below are the first observations of the participants about the maize height on their plots.
| Participant | Corn height in centimeters |
| Silvain Kusters in Guttecoven (Li) | 30 |
| Sander Vijverberg in Strijen (ZH) | 25 |
| Hans Schoenmakers in Udenhout (NB) | 22 |
| Robert Welhuis in Wapse (Dr.) | 20 |
| Frank Rooker in Aartswoud (NH) | 14 |
| Jan Dirk Ubbels in Jelsum (FR) | 12 |
| Joost van Nostrum in Sint-Oedenrode (NB) | 8 |
| Bert Wissels in Hengelo (GD) | 6 |
| Jan Henk Waterink in Beerzerveld (OV) | 14 |
| Average | 16.7 |
Moment of crop protection
Over the past few days, not only did the corn grow very fast, but so did the weeds. So pay attention is the motto. The earlier you start with crop protection, the less the maize will collect. Sander Uwland, Cropadvisor at Bayer, advises to look closely at the emergence of the weeds and to implement crop protection on the basis of this. "The most effective time for this is when the maize plant has between three and four leaves."
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