The summer dry has resulted this autumn in less-than-ideal quantities of grass being available to cows.

The predicted dry patch, which in November seemed impossible to envisage, has arrived.

About this time of the year, we always seem to get calls from merchants and farmers asking several versions of the same question: “Is it too late to plant maize silage in November?” 

Maize is a vital crop that consumes a lot of farmers’ time and money, says DairyNZ.

Over the last three years, pressure has increased on dairy farmers to produce food with a low environmental footprint.

The maize harvest in many regions is being severely hampered by rain and high soil moisture levels.

Maize silage is a good fit with New Zealand systems because the rumen is a microbial environment, full of bacteria, fungi and protozoa which eventually help to produce milk or weight gain.

Maize silage harvest is running two-three weeks late in most areas because of later planting and cooler-than-average early summer temperatures.

Insufficient contract maize was grown this season, contributing to a feed shortage in drought conditions, says Federated Farmers Northland provincial president John Blackwell.

Some talk in the marketplace suggests reducing maize silage growing costs by decreasing planting population.