Farmers Foe Christmas Fayre No 2: Badger Surprise

Farmers Foe Christmas Fayre No 2:
Badger Surprise


Please do not read if :-

1) You do not have a sense of humour
2) Think all wild animals wear country gent costumes and talk to each other when we ‘humans’ aren’t watching
3) Are a vegetarian person

You will find it offensive.

Ok so it’s Christmas and a credit crunch one at that. In the next 12 blog entries, in fact each day leading up to Christmas I will give you an idea how you, the humble farmer, can control the vermin on your land and cook up a tasty dish… for free!! Please enjoy, share your own recipes of your ‘Farmers Foe Fayre’. Feel free to send in pictures of your finished dishes.


I don’t think there is a single livestock farmer in the Westcountry who has not been exposed to the problem of TB in his cattle, or knows someone who has. It has lead to the destruction of over 25,000 cattle last year (2009) and cost Taxpayers £63million! That’s £63 million that could be going into public health, or education!

Farmers Foe Christmas Fayre No 1 Pan Fried Rook with vine fruits, served with couscous

Please do not read if :-

1) You do not have a sense of humour
2) Think all wild animals wear country gent costumes and talk to each other when we ‘humans’ aren’t watching
3) Are a vegetarian person
You will find it offensive.

Ok so it’s Christmas and a credit crunch one at that. In the next 12 blog entries, in fact each day leading up to Christmas I will give you an idea how you, the humble farmer, can control the vermin on your land and cook up a tasty dish… for free!! Please enjoy, share your own recipes of your ‘Farmers Foe Fayre’. Feel free to send in pictures of your finished dishes.

Photo by: John Harding (c)

Why Crows and Rooks are a farmers foe:


Besides being incredibly intelligent and learning farm routines so they can avoid flying lead and traps, these birds are very adept at killing small chicks (if you have ducks and chickens). They are a nightmare in wet years when corn has lodged, they can pick big areas clean robbing the farmer of these grains. When farmers plant crops, they will land in the fields again, going along the rows of freshly planted seed picking it all out and eating it, even once the seed has sprouted and emerged leading to bear patches and poor stands.

Here’s a tasty way of getting your own back on the little blighters!

Gibberella Ear Rot in Maize.

Gibberella Ear Rot occurs in maize during cool wet periods of weather following silking in the late summer. 2010 has been ideal in climatic terms to enhance the growth of the fungus.

Gibberella ear rot is caused by the fungus Gibberella zeae, also known as Fusarium graminearum. It is usually identified by a pinkish mould on the clamp face. This is often noticed just below the “salt line” at the top. These fungal infections once in the clamp can go on to generate high levels of micotoxins and can cause issues when feeding. Cows scouring or possibly just loose are all common symptoms.

There is no varietal resistance to this infection as such but it has been suggested that cobs which produce a “snouting” (where the ear extends beyond the leaf sheath) are more susceptible than others.

Farmers who have had a micotoxin analysis completed may find levels of vomitoxin or perhaps zearalenone in particular in the silage. Levels of 0.4+ ppm are cause for concern and may need various binders and yeasts to be fed alongside the maize.

Cornish and North Devon wheat variety demonstration plots.

For the first time in many years, quite possible for the first time in Cornwall, I have put in two wheat variety demonstration plots to show farmers what these different varieties will do 'in their back yard' so to speak.

Nickersons has had a trial site just north of Exeter for many years, near Silverton, where a whole range of varieties from the recommended list(RL) are trialed to measure performance in the 'west'. This is all part of the recommended list certification process and the main site for septoria screening. It is also where all the new pre RL material is tested too, somewhere in the region of 300 new upcoming variety lines.The site features treated and non-treated trials to see what plants in-bred genetic resistance levels are to a range common fungal deseases.

There is normally an open day that is run by Masstock, with whom we share the site under the 'we do the land prep, plant it and harvest it, you spray it' arrangement. The site is on free draining,  fertile red soils that aren't really representative of the heavy clays and shales found in Cornwall and Devon south and west of Exeter, nor does it have the disease pressure from 60 inches of rain found elsewhere. After hearing the feedback from numerous farmers in Cornwall and North Devon about these non comparative issues, I have found two farmers who were prepared to undertake these demonstration plots.

The North Devon site is near Holsworthy, heavy wet clays, not the best ground in the parish, but representative of soils farmers are trying to grow wheat in and here is a short video of what they look like at the end of November.



The Cornish trial site is near Tregony, on the Roseland peninsular, not far from St Austell. There is a lot of wheat grown in Cornwall, mainly for stock feed, so this site is ideal to show local growers the strengths and weaknesses of these varieties. Both sites will have an untreated strip through them too so we can see what Septoria resistance there is, as well as demonstrating to those organic growers what they too can expect. This site has 5 more varieties than the other too which is an added bonus. There will be open days at both sites in the new year and a proper open day event as well at both just after the Cereals Event. Dates will be announced.

South West Farmer Press release, for those that don't get this publication.

PRESS RELEASE

Specialist grain maize variety harvested ‘a month early’
25th October 2010

Growing a specialist variety of grain maize and managing it according to specific advice from leading grain maize experts Nickerson Direct has resulted in North Cornwall farmers Michael and Anthony Grills being able to start harvesting an excellent crop of Lorado on 14th October, four weeks earlier than traditional forage maize.

Continuing pressure on the dairy industry has encouraged Michael and Anthony to focus on increasing efficiency and cost-effectiveness over the last few years, during which they have expanded their dairy business from 250 to 320 cows, with the eventual aim of reaching 500. They have also implemented major advances in genetics and nutrition, reduced costs, improved attention to detail and increased profitability.

Until 2009, cropping at West Trelay Farm, Marhamchurch included 60-80 acres of forage maize, which was included in the ration at the rate of one part to two parts grass silage. However, the Grills found it difficult to achieve to achieve consistently good results from forage maize and variability in the clamp made correct rationing difficult.

In early 2009, Nickerson Direct Seed Specialist Simon Montgomery suggested that Michael and Anthony include grain maize with the forage maize as an additional energy source to supplement grass silage, its higher energy/starch content significantly improving milking performance and making the ration easier to manage throughout the year.

The initial crop produced an average of 5 tonnes per acre of grain which was put into the clamp for £68/t, making it very cost-effective. The maize fed tremendously well, with average butterfat content increasing from 4.1%-4.2% to a maximum of 4.54% during the winter and never dropping below 4.2% this summer, while protein remained at 3.34%-3.38% throughout. The resulting increase in the quality of the milk, all of it contracted to Dairy Crest for cheese production, netted the Grills a 1.25p/litre quality premium worth £35,000 per year.

It was so successful that this year they substituted the area of forage maize for grain maize, drilling 90 acres of Lorado between 18th and 21st April. The crop established quickly in favourable conditions, grew consistently throughout the season despite being subjected to severe drought stress and in terms of maturity behaved more like a Group 9 than its official NIAB Group 7 rating would suggest.

By the second week of October the crop was 12' high and ready to harvest, contractor Phil Strout combining 4.5-5 tonnes per acre (at 29%-34% moisture) of what Anthony Grills describes as ‘a wonderful product, like gold dust’, although he acknowledges that their location on relatively dry ground in North Cornwall favours the crop.

Simon Montgomery states: “In recent years, livestock farmers looking to increase their range of home-grown concentrates and arable growers looking for a spring-sown cash crop have shown an increasing interest in grain maize.

“Dry grain production requires varieties with rapid dry-down rates, harvested after the leaves have died back and typically followed by the removal of 10%-15% moisture in a dryer, which increases the cost of the final product and is a major factor in steering producers towards moist storage after crimping.

“The high energy content and slow starch degradation characteristics make crimped grain maize an ideal moist concentrate feed for high-performance dairy and beef animals. It is convenient and reliable, ideal for use on farms where maize silage area is limited but where additional starch is required in the diet. Typically, the nutrient analysis for crimpled grain is 65%-75% drymatter, 14.0%-14.5% ME, 8%-9% crude protein and 60%-70% starch.

“Grain maize provides a much more concentrated form of energy than forage maize, which is very important in achieving the correct energy-density in rations, enabling cows to eat more and make more milk. It is also very convenient, allowing livestock farmers to ‘top up’ lower-quality forages and those who buy in straights to purchase the exact tonnage they require, as and when they need it, which benefits cash-flow.

“Many farmers have tried to produce grain maize using conventional forage varieties, but these will only dry down slowly to a minimum of 30% moisture, making the crop difficult to combine in often wet and windy conditions late in November or December. Growing specialist grain maize varieties will make a big difference, but producing a good crop requires a different technique in terms of variety, plant population, nitrogen management and timing.

“It is essential to choose the correct variety. Lorado was bred by Limagrain specifically to perform well in Northern Europe. It is one of the earliest-maturing varieties in the Maize Growers Association trials and under favourable conditions does not require covering with plastic. Despite being the tallest on the NIAB list, it has excellent standing power, good disease resistance, excellent early vigour and good cob tip cover, which eliminates the risk of mould infection from ‘snouting’. Lorado produces excellent yields of high-quality grain, has superb dry-down characteristics and will reach 25% moisture, making it easier to harvest.

“Grain maize crops should be sown as early in April as possible, when soil temperature reaches 8°C, into light, free-draining soils in South-facing fields that warm up quickly during the spring and drain well right through until harvest. Whereas crops grown for crimped maize production typically require a seed rate of 38,000-40,000 seeds/acre, for grain maize production this should be reduced to 36,000-38,000 seeds/acre.

“In addition to its many economic benefits, grain maize also has significant environmental benefits. The defra guidelines indicate that farmers should sow a green cover crop after harvesting forage maize to prevent soil erosion. With grain maize, however, this is not necessary as the stova is chopped and spread, creating a ‘mat’ that allows machinery to travel on the land more easily, greatly reducing soil erosion/run-off, improving soil structure and lowering the export of Phosphate and Potash from the field/farm, a big win-win situation given the current rising cost of fertiliser.”

Videos of the Limagrain trial plots in Cornwall

The videos below show the tremendous amount of work that has gone into producing this trial with over 70 different varieties trialled in three replicated trial blocks to give a real insight into maoize varieties grown in a really less favoured area, namely south of Launceston in the shadow of Bodmin Moor. The majority of the varieties were Limagrain varieties, but a number of competitor varieties were also trialled, with some of these seen in the videos below highlighting some of the weaknesses in some of them.

'Snouting', a symptom found in certain varieties is also shown, with the consequences also explained, as is the issue of premature senescence where varieties die off before cob maturity is reached, which can lead to acidosis and poor quality silage. I hope these are worthwhile, excuse the novice nature of these videos, they are 'as is' with no editing, so what we saw, you see.

Video tour of my Launceston Maize trial plots.

Here it is, there are other clips on my youtube site too, more to follow.

Generally, these trials were very good this year, soil structure improvements carried out early to improve root development, the application of chicken manure as well as getting a good fine tilth all helped with the establishment and early growth which is vital with maize. Sometimes, the importance of leaf area index is forgotten, it is vital with maize and this is where vigour comes in as it is this ability to keep growing in less than ideal situations that means that when peak sunlight and heat units arrive in June and July you want a plant with a big enough leaf area to be able to absorb it all and to grow quickly! Beethoven is a variety that is able to do this.