Maize Watch: Average year in Suffolk after wet winter
© Gary Naylor Photography A laborious drilling campaign was rewarded with an average maize year on the Suffolk-Norfolk border for ex-dairy farmer Toby Tibbenham.
Crops yielded a solid 39.5t/ha across the18.5ha (46 acres) of Myrdal and 36ha (89 acres) of Bonnie for Toby on the medium clay loams around Harleston.
This was after a wet winter in which the ground was tighter and more compact than usual, meaning two passes were needed with the disc/tine/drill cultivator.
See also: Maize watch – new variety impresses in moderate growing year
“The ground needed working up a bit more than normal,” says Toby. “Two passes of the Kuhn Performer were required to work up the soil, followed by the Vaderstad drill.”
Farm facts
Weybread Hall, Suffolk
- 50ha sugar beet
- 210ha of wheat, 30ha barley and 60ha oilseed rape
- 60ha of grass leys
- Winter cover crops rented out for store lambs
- Small herd of pedigree Hereford and Beef Shorthorn cattle
- Finishing beef cattle and growing dairy youngstock
Average year
Myrdal – a noted high-yielding variety – and allrounder Bonnie, rated for early harvest, both performed similarly. The difference was down to drainage, says Toby.
“It was the variety of fields that was the main difference this year. One or two bits need new drainage and that is where the crop was held back.”
Toby recorded a drill date of 7 May and a harvest date of 25 September – both on par for the farm, which grows without film or irrigation.
Maize has been sold to an anaerobic digester unit since Toby sold the cows last winter. He uses some of the resulting digestate on his land. Last year, liquid product was hauled to the farm and stored in the slurry tank, while this year the farm took solids.
“It wasn’t the best year, but it wasn’t a bad year either,” explains Toby. “We produced a decent average crop. Cobs were well developed, and we can consider ourselves quite fortunate compared to a lot of other people.”