UK: Hutchinsons maize trials highlight drilling dates

Hutchinsons’ northern maize trials have highlighted the importance of tailoring variety to the desired drilling date. Hosted by the Fisher family, near Carlisle, the trials featured 30 new and established varieties, with some grown under plastic, enabling comparisons to be made between the agronomic traits and the yield potential. Poor weather was a key factor this year, with drilling pushed back to 8 May and harvesting not taking place until mid-October. Agronomist Jim Clark says: “Generally, that reflects what we saw in the field this season too, and in such a challenging year, anything that helped crops establish quickly really stood out in terms of the results.” Jim notes that the differences in varieties, especially the speed of establishment and maturity, were evident this year. “In many cases, there was a 10-week drilling window for maize from April to the first week of June, which really proved that growers have to pick the best varieties for when they want to drill. There ...