How can you ensure success with maize?
Including maize in crop rotation can have significant benefits. It can offer up the same gross margin as a first wheat and supports growers towards their Sustainable Farming Incentive. It tends to fare better under extreme weather events and, therefore, can be a great alternative in a difficult year. However, like any crop, it does require careful attention when it comes to nutrition. Biostimulants play an important role in improving nutrient use efficiency, making them a useful tool for a high-yielding maize crop.
Why has the rainfall impacted growers?
Even the best laid plans with fertilisers will have faced challenges due to the unprecedented rainfall the UK has seen this winter and early spring. Naturally occurring and added nutrients are sure to have faced leaching and, with maize known for front-loading its nitrogen requirements, it is particularly at risk to any factors that reduce nitrogen availability. However, there are mitigating actions growers can take to support a good yield. Biostimulants can also play an important role in providing maize crops with slow, controlled release nitrogen and support increased nutrient use efficiency by improving uptake, assimilation, and usage
It is likely that soils will have experienced significant nutrient losses, with sulphur, potassium and nitrogen all impacted following the rain. Agronomists are likely to advise growers to review the soil nitrogen supply (SNS) available to their crops to better inform their nitrogen application.
Dave Harris, Frontier Agronomist, said, “Sulphur and nitrogen are very soluble and move freely in the soil which makes them very susceptible to leaching. Potassium, although held in the soil in a different way, is also easily leached. Without them, yields will suffer. Sulphur is part of an enzyme required for nitrogen uptake and lack of it can severely hamper metabolism and reduce nitrogen use efficiency, impacting growth. Together with nitrogen, sulphur enables the formations of amino acids needed for protein synthesis, whilst potassium is associated with the movement of water, nutrients and carbohydrates in plant tissue. Lack of potassium affects starch, protein and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. ATP can regulate the rate of photosynthesis so, if a crop is short of it, it will in turn lead to poor growth rates.”
What biostimulants best support maize?
Status® (MTU® + pidolic acid) can be applied to maize typically at 4-6 true leaves with a post emergent herbicide. It promotes root growth, providing a larger surface area for nutrient uptake. Status® also improves nitrogen assimilation and enhances photosynthesis. The plant then increases its nitrogen uptake to help maintain the correct C:N ratio. This allows maize to continue to grow, even where nutrient levels in the soil have been negatively impacted by the weather.
During 2023, the Maize Growers Association (MGA) conducted trials on forage maize against a reduced nitrogen programme. In these trials, our biostimulant Nutrino Pro outperformed other options and showed a significant improvement in dry matter yield, starch, ME (metabolisable energy) and CWD (Cell wall digestibility).
Nutrino Pro is a rainfast, low scorch, highly efficient controlled release foliar nitrogen which contains magnesium and sulphur as well as two complementary plant biostimulants for improved nutrient use efficiency: Pidolic acid and R100. Nutrino Pro releases nitrogen over a 6-8 week period, whilst pidolic acid improves nitrogen assimilation and increases growth and yield. This is ideal for maize crops where 50% of its nitrogen requirement is typically after the middle of August, at a time of year where the lack of soil moisture can restrict the uptake of soil applied nitrogen applied at planting.
R100® improves the uptake and utilisation of the magnesium component (the central molecule in chlorophyll) in Nutrino Pro. It also boosts cytokinin levels in plant tissues, increasing photosynthetic capacity and maintaining green leaf retention.
Dave continues, “The slow release of nitrogen, sulphur and magnesium into the plant, along with the Pidolic acid and R100®, optimises cobb pollination and growth, maximising starch production. Starch production is the whole reason for growing maize whether it is for grain or forage. High starch content in the crop increases energy density improving livestock performance from forage, also improving gas yields through an anaerobic digester. The higher the starch content, the more valuable he crop.
All of the MGA tested products contained the same nitrogen forms, albeit at varying percentages. Despite this, the magnesium and sulphur in Nutrino Pro, as well as R100® and pidolic acid, were responsible for the additional maize yield and quality. Even at a half rate, Nutrino Pro outperformed the other tested products on all the parameters.
“Independent trials have evidenced that Nutrino Pro optimises dry matter, starch and ME production compared to other foliar nitrogen products Based on the results from the MGA trial, this equates to an additional £37/Ha due to the increase in dry matter, £30/ha due to the increase in starch and an impressive 20,000 MJ increase per Ha in energy potentially worth around £1400/Ha in terms of 3500 Litres of extra milk production.”
