The first of this year’s forage maize crops were cut by Co. Kilkenny grower and contractor, Edward Delahunty on Thursday, October 17.
“Ground conditions are excellent at the present time, so we started into a crop that had not been grown under plastic.
“I was very happy with the dry matter and starch values that came back: 27% starch and 31% dry matter.
“This morning we have moved into a field that was planted out under plastic. And here the analysis figures were even better: 29.5% starch and 33.5% figure,” Delahunty said.
These are very decent figures, given the fact that it has been a very cool growing season for maize crops.
Delahunty is estimating that forage maize will be coming in at around 18t/ac fresh weight this year, on average.
He continued: “That’s down slightly on last year.
“But there will be some crops that get up to the 20t. However, there are some later crops in the country – and they may be that little bit lighter when into comes to their final yields.”
Forage maize
The members of the Delahunty contracting are currently ensiling a proportion of the harvested maize in pits.
“All of this forage receives an additive”, Delahunty said.
The Kilmanagh-based tillage operator also makes baled forage maize available to farmer-clients.
“The precision chopped maize is brought into the yard by trailer in the normal fashion. The fresh forage is then loaded into a hopper, which feeds a static round baler courtesy of a conveyor belt.
“The baling system is manufactured in the Netherlands,” he continued.
Maize bales can weigh up to 1.2t. The forage within them has an average DM of 40%.
Static maize baling systems can process up to 65t/hr. They are currently used in 40 different countries around the world.
“We don’t use an inoculant on the baled maize. This is because the forage is so tightly packed: a high quality fermentation is guaranteed every time.
“The demand for baled maize is extremely strong at the present time, and this is likely to increase further given the fact that maize crops may not yield as well this year as would normally be the case,” he outlined.
Delahunty is selling maize bales at €90 each from his yard.
It is estimated that the area of maize grown in Ireland in 2024 is 30% up, year-on-year. Many growers opted for the crop, as opposed to spring barley, given the very late spring.