Corn in the Netherlands continues to grow steadily. The damage caused by the drought is becoming increasingly visible, which in some cases leads to overseeding. The participating dairy farmers in the Boerenbusiness Roughage tour keep a close eye on growth. What does the corn look like on their plots?
The general picture is that the crops are growing well. However, in places, growth is sometimes difficult and the crop is not even. The reason for this is the dry heads, where there was little moisture and the development was barely to nothing in the beginning. There was also more bird damage here and there than previously thought. This also applies to Joost van Nostrum in Sint-Oederoden (NB) where headlands and dry heads were sown on 1 June. The relatively cold nights at the end of May were also not positive for development. The table below shows the height of the maize of the participants in recent weeks.
Participants | Maize height week 21 in cm | Maize height week 22 in cm | Maize height week 23 in cm |
Silvain Kusters in Guttecoven (Li) | 30 | 42 | 48 |
Sander Vijverberg in Strijen (ZH) | 25 | 38 | 46 |
Hans Schoenmakers in Udenhout (NB) | 22 | 30 | 40 |
Robert Welhuis in Wapse (Dr.) | 20 | 25 | 28 |
Roel Assies in Zeewolde (Fl) | 14 | 25 | 35 |
Jan Henk Waterink in Beerzerveld (OV) | 14 | 20 | |
Frank Rooker in Aartswoud (NH) | 14 | 20 | 33 |
Jan Dirk Ubbels in Jelsum | 12 | 12 | 20 |
Joost van Nostrum in Sint-Oedenrode (NB) | 8 | 14 | 30 |
Bert Wissels in Hengelo (GD) | 6 | 16 | 25 |
Average week height | 16.5 | 22.2 | 36.6 |
Overseeding necessary
What is striking is that the growth at Jan Dirk Ubbels is not going fast. Ubbels indicated that the maize was extremely affected by the cold nights and did not do much in late May, after which there was also a lot of bird damage. That is why Ubbels finally decided to reseed 12 hectares of the total 22 hectares. After rotating the soil, the 3 hectares were sown again on June 12 with an extremely early variety. The other 10 hectares, which are on a different plot, are now well out of the ground and have a length of 20 centimeters. It can also be said about the general picture that the growth of the maize in the rest of the participants is reasonably good.
Corn like leek in the field
The maize fields have generally had a difficult time. Due to the drought in several areas, the crop had little nutrition, so the start was bad. Antoon Verhoeven, forage specialist at Limagrain, states that he came across clay plots with maize in Zeeland where the maize was grown on the land as leeks. The longest day will be in 11 days and the aim is for the maize fields to be closed. Verhoeven indicates that not all plots will survive this. Incidentally, he is positive about the coming period. The prospects are good, so if the good weather continues, the soil temperature will rise and the maize can develop quickly.
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