maize

case 956

hi all. sowed maize dis yr for the first time for finishing bulls over the winter(25 acres). it looks a average crop. 15 acres sown with plastic around 20th april and 10 sown without 1st may. i wonder when is the right time to harvest this and how much time would i leave between the 2 crops for harvesting?? all help greatly appreciated. situated north offaly. under plastic better than without.

johnboy6930

under plastic a lot better.was sown late enough by you..id say that the maize will be pushed well out into October due to the summer we had and ground condition now..cut the lot together when the conditions dry up

John_F

whoever you bought the seed from should at least look at it.

you should harvest when the whole plant it 30% dry matter (dm) and cob is 50% dm. get a cob and pull off the outer leaves, crack the cob in half. the ends of the grain (on the plant side / inner part of cob) should be red / orange, get a biro or use your nail and start from the outside of the grain and run along to the inside, the grain should be 1/3rd milky and 2/3rds hard so the biro should pierce the grain and a small bit of moisture come out. no point having grains rock hard as it wont be digestible to the animal and only fit for combine. the grain should be a firm dough, with the grains on the top being a soft cheese consistency and those at bottom a hard cheese. and the leaves at the base of the plant should be turning to yellow (drying down). so you should harvest when only the slighest drop of moisture can be squeezed from the grain and still having a bit of green leaf present

case 956

examined my crop of maize der dis, it has 1 full cob and half a cob on it nearly full. the cob s soft still. when do u tink it be fit for harvest and how does yers compare to mine?

stanflt

took these today-still 3/4weeks from cutting

bob charles

mine under plastic was going well up to fertilization, and just to add insult to injury, fertilization on my crop has being the worst I have ever seen, Again I dont see much of a benefit to plastic going by the most important indicator the cobs. yes its 8ft tall but this means nothing when the cobs are poor. And just to give me more of a kicking, strong winds even knock sections of the maize in the open. All my maize wont be cut for another month at least even though I want the ground for wheat

dar31

the lad we buy it off said it would be ready in 2 weeks, will look at it my self this week, under plastic on the coast.

49801

is there a good cob in any crops this year?
plastic vrs non plastic.

fellow around here has 160acres growing and his buyers are backing out on him due to the quota situation.

up outa dat

Our maize is about 3 weeks away yet, 1 good full cob on it, the second cob is about half to 3/4. Sown under plastic, given the year seems to be doing ok. Other than the pit, anyone have any experience of storing it as bales or in a tube??

blue5000

up outa dat wrote: »

Our maize is about 3 weeks away yet, 1 good full cob on it, the second cob is about half to 3/4. Sown under plastic, given the year seems to be doing ok. Other than the pit, anyone have any experience of storing it as bales or in a tube??

I reckon you'd have to ask over on bff about the tube, baling is simply too expensive I reckon.

jeff greene

Samco have brought out their own tubing machine now, defiantly has its uses, short of clamp space or when demand is low as less will spoil.