Roughage tour Corn - week 37
Corn is rapidly disappearing into the pit
Even though a lot of water fell this week, in a number of places the Boerenbusiness Roughage tour chopped parcels. As expected, the rain showers came too late for a number of maize fields and did not help before the time of chopping.
"The corn is off" that's how it sounded last Friday Bert Swaps from Hengelo (Gelderland). A little rain provided a nice addition to the pit. The maize was a bit on the dry side, so the rainwater came in handy for the preservation of the maize. Despite the fact that the maize had not been irrigated, the yield was certainly not disappointing. In particular, the mass was sufficient. However, the cob left it a bit off, so Wissels expects a lower amount of starch in the maize silage compared to last season.
A conscious decision was made not to use an silage agent, because Wissels expects this to have little effect due to the slightly too dry yield. The dairy farmers now feed a small part of the fresh maize for practical reasons and then the silage is left closed for as long as possible for the digestion process. Unfortunately, the under-sowing of the maize has dried up a bit, but hopefully it will still come up and otherwise a new green manure crop will be sown before October 1. Tomorrow (Thursday 15 September) it will be Frank Rooker's turn from Aartswoud (North Holland) to chop the maize from the fields. He talks about good quality maize, where only the cob still contains a little bit of moisture. Nevertheless, the choice is made to chop, because of the deterioration of the plant. "If I don't do it, I'm afraid the plant will get too old."
Rain causes slow ripening maize
With Robert Welhouse from Wapse (Drenthe) the chopping is not yet applicable. The corn is still very nice green. "The ripening process will be slower after the rain", Welhuis expects. Slowly he sees several dairy farmers in the area who are removing the maize. He is certainly pleased with the quality and yield. They are beautiful, well-filled cobs and there is sufficient length in the crop. Especially given the growing conditions this year, you can speak of a good maize. Only the undersow could have been a little better, it is only moderately present. Welhuis expects to collect his maize in the last week of September.
Manon van der Meer
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