College farm grows maize crop under plastic

Bishop Burton College hopes it will lead to a consistent yield which will provide good, starchy forage for its dairy herd.

The college has grown maize as winter feed for the last few years but the yield has varied by as much as 30pc.

Colin Dennis, farm director, said variations in soil types and aspects had meant only around 35pc of the colleges land was suitable for maize.

"With this system, we can almost guarantee to budget on filling two clamps with 1,400 tonnes of maize by mid-September," he said.

Maize is reliant on heat, particularly during establishment.

Growing it under plastic recreates the conditions of at least 300 miles south, allowing farms in marginal areas to grow the crop successfully.

Pioneer Hi-Bred, a subsidiary of DuPont, has trialed the Samco System in the UK for 12 years - but until now no one in East Yorkshire had grown maize under plastic.

Jonathan Bellamy, of Pioneer ,said: "The Samco System was developed in Ireland and uses a one pass system that drills, sprays herbicide and lays plastic.

"The plastic is fully bio photo and thermal degradable and has been developed specifically for this purpose in Ireland by Samco Agricultural Manufacturing who has been researching growing under plastic for about 14 years."

The plastic is strong enough to lay, starts to degrade within four to six weeks, and is perforated to let the young plants break through.

"This perforation also allows excess heat to escape and air to circulate more efficiently," said Mr Bellamy.

"The plastic also acts as a regulator as in colder climates it will not degrade as quickly, thus protecting the crop for longer."

Pioneer contacted Thompsons Feeds of York to promote the system to their customers as Yorkshire was one of the few regions where they had no trials.

Neil Johnson, of Thompsons, was amazed by the response they had from a couple of farmers meetings held at the end of last year.

"We now have approximately 500 acres of maize under plastic across Yorkshire," he said.

Growing under plastic does involve some initial outlay.

The Samco System costs approximately £100 per acre more than traditional drilling.

However, the system negates the need for placement fertilizer and the application of herbicide at planting, plus the impact on the yield, particularly starch maize, means initial costs are quickly recovered.

The college planted in mid April - all 75 acres were planted within 48 hours by contractor Peter Russon and Sons, of Lincoln.

Mr Dennis said: "The drilling went very smoothly and the Samco System means you hand over much of the management and agronomy to the contractor."

The farm plans to harvest the first crop in mid-September in time to follow with a crop of wheat with maximum yield potential.

"We know that 20 tonnes per acre is achievable," said Mr Dennis. "Past yields have ranged from 12-20 tonnes and as consistency in yield is vital, under normal circumstances we would have been unable to extend the acreage, but I'm confident the Samco System will allow us to predict yield more accurately and that means we can target the workforce more efficiently too.

"I'm hoping to continue using this method not only for the consistent yield it will offer, but also because the earlier harvest will mean the herd is settled into its winter diet much earlier."