Paula Hynes: Maize season makes me wish our contractor had airplanes
Denis Crowley and Colin Murphy of CCS Contracting harvesting maize on the Hynes farm in mid-September.
Maize season is upon us — contractors are back in the fields harvesting. We planted our maize on April 15. Yes, I know it was early, but temperatures were good, soil conditions were ideal and the crop was planted under film to protect it.
The variety we planted was Saxon from Goldcrop, a high-yielding variety with early ripening. It rained the weekend after the crop was planted, so it was an ideal start.
The golden rule for maize is knee-high by July 4. Our crop was knee-high by the beginning of June, and actually showing cobs by the fourth of July.
It was possibly an ideal year for growing maize, with high temperatures and plenty of sunshine. We were keen to harvest a quality crop and were monitoring it closely from mid-August to see how cobs were ripening. Niall inspected the crop on the first week of September and it was agreed to give the crop another week to ensure cobs were perfect.
With the weather being messy, a brief weather window appeared on September 14, with a breezy day and much the same forecast for the following day, the silage slab was ready and the Ecosyl additive purchased so CCS Contracting pulled into the field mid-afternoon on September 15.
We knew the crop was heavy and it certainly did not disappoint, on yield averaging 28t/ac — big volume and right up at the top scale of what maize can deliver.
With cobs fully ripened and still a healthy green colour in the plant, we felt quality could be good as well, so a sample was sent to the laboratory in Dairygold feed mill in Lombardstown.
With the crop in the pit, it was all hands on deck to get it covered that evening before the weather deteriorated again, a double covering of plastic sheets followed by a layer of netting to protect it from the birds.
Results came back from the laboratory and we were well impressed, DM at 35.1%, starch levels were extremely good at 34.8% and the big surprise was to see protein levels up at 8.3% — it is unusual to see protein levels up when the starch was high ,and the overall UFL was .91 , a bumper crop with quality to match.
The weather has settled into crisp, fine, dry conditions, but we were glad we grabbed the opportunity to harvest earlier, as crops seem to have lost colour a lot in a week.
An American guest asked us in mid-June what the secret to growing good maize was. Our answer was stick it in the ground, and technically, it is all luck after that, but the reality is the secret is great contractors and good advice.
The team planted when we wanted and harvested when we wanted. We were advised on the seed variety by Goldcrop, and Niall gave us great advice on fertiliser requirements and also when the crop was ready to harvest.
Becky flew to Newcastle the following day to clip heifers, an early morning train to Dublin, followed by yet again more delays in Dublin airport. Every time she has flown in or out of Dublin recently, her flight has been delayed, so it is a constant for us to be sitting around airports.
The rest of our week was spent keeping the farm organised before Georgie and I departed.
All calves are tagged, DNA samples sent to the ICBF for DNA registration, and all BVD samples dropped into the lab in Bandon.
Entries submitted to the IHFA for the National Dairy Show, which is looming fast. We have a team of 14 entered, so it will certainly be a very busy show for us over the two days.
The shock announcement also came this week that Dairygold was reducing its base price for milk for August supplies. We were aware markets were down, but a 3c drop for August was not expected and we felt September supplies would see a base price of 45c.
Make no mistake, milk markets have fallen off a cliff in the EU. My advice is to have a hard look at milk markets regardless of who you supply, because we will all feel the pain of this drop.
Georgie and I flew to Manchester on Friday morning then caught a train to Stafford as it was All-Breeds All-Britain calf show weekend, where we linked up with Becky.
With Jane Steel judging the colour breed showmanship, Georgie finished sixth in the junior showmanship with a heifer that had only been halter trained a week, and it was a good experience for her to take on that level of competition with a novice heifer attending its first show.
Becky took the halter with a shorthorn heifer and went on to claim honourable mention in the shorthorn showmanship championship. Becky was busy prepping a team of heifers on the Sunday, with only Georgie in her show whites, and she managed to lead one Jersey into third place and another into sixth place. Meanwhile, Becky did an outstanding job getting the heifers ready, and the shorthorn she prepared went on to win its class.
A dash back to Manchester airport to catch our flight back to Cork, and yet again our Ryanair flight was delayed. I am glad Ryanair was not given the task of planting and harvesting our maize, because planting and harvesting would surely have been delayed, but I am tempted to ring our contractors and see if they would consider buying a few planes — CCS Airways has a ring to it and we know we would get an efficient service!
