The past few months have clearly confirmed that forage maize is no longer a ‘Cinderella’ crop within Irish agriculture.
Despite all the madness of the extreme weather that was the summer of 2023, growers are currently harvesting fields of maize that are yielding between 18t and 21t of fresh weight per acre.
It is an incredible success story, particularly given the very disappointing performance of spring barley this year.
Forage maize
Meanwhile, demand for forage maize has never been higher.
Irish dairy and beef farmers feed lots of it during the early spring months, while milk producers north of the border include it within a total mixed ration year-round.
And there is yet more good news for forage maize coming into view. If the government manages to get its house in order and give anaerobic digestion (AD) a proper kickstart, then ‘Bob’s your uncle’, maize is the perfect forage source for these energy producing systems.
From an agronomy perspective, maize ticks many boxes. In the first instance, there are no repeated visits to fields throughout the growing season.
It’s case of getting the crop in and then coming back for the harvest in late September / early October.
This is particularly the case when maize is sown out on ground that was previously in grass. The crop is also an amazing sump for animal slurries.
Surely this has got to be part of Ireland’s response to the nitrates challenge.
Maize for tillage
For professional tillage farmers, maize can work at a number of levels. They can grow the crop as a direct cash option, selling direct from the field at harvest.
Or they can grow the crop as a bespoke contract arrangement for dairy or beef farmers.
Given the returns available from forage maize, it is the one crop option that will allow bespoke tillage farmers to compete directly with milk producers for rental ground.
As far as I am aware, forage maize is not eligible for the Tillage Incentive Scheme. This situation must be changed in time for the 2024 growing season.
The Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine allows for combi-crops (cereal/protein mix) within the Protein Aid Scheme.
And, let’s be honest, the only place these crops are destined for is a silage clamp.
So I see no reason why forage maize should not be included within the specification of the tillage incentive measure.
Forage will never replace barley as the main spring crop in Ireland. The year that was 2023 threw up some very unique challenges for barley growers.
However, the scope to increase the maize acreage grown in Ireland is immense. And tillage farmers can lead the charge in this direction.
The reality is that livestock farmers – and many contractors for that matter – do not have the equipment and agronomy-related skills to ensure that crops of maize get off to the best possible start.
In contrast, tillage farmers have this skill set in abundance.