IS MAIZE SILAGE WORTH THE MONEY?!?!?! | COST VS SAVINGS

[@peterspeir]

Phil, all nutritional analysis on forages are declared on a Dry Matter (DM) basis and the analysis on your maize meal would be on a fresh weight (FW). So to be the same you would need to divide the analysis of the maize meal by the dry matter. So maize meal at 74.5% starch would actually be approx 82.7% starch on DM (827kgs starch per tonne of DM). So with your maize silage at 40.5% starch and 36.4% DM, you would need 2.04 DM tonnes of your maize silage or 5.6tonnes FW to be equivalent. Also the prices of maize meal will all be fresh weight, so they would need to be converted to DM by dividing the price by 0.9. Hope that makes sense!

[@roymclean4763]

Thanks. It looks like it's still well worthwhile for Phi, to grow then!

[@elaineandnicholasoconnor8388]

about growing Maize , i have been growing Maize with 30 years both in Ireland and in france , the idea in Ireland was to dump all the dung and slurry you can on the field then top up with n like it was free , moved to france 20 years ago and the thinking at the time was very different to that of the irish but france had fert logs back then where limits on fert use had come into place , now 20 years on you can't put any n down if planting into first year after grass the thinking to use up all extra n in the ground we spread up to 30t of dung per ha and that is all , from looking at you video there is a few points i would like to make just to help you try find why your pit was heating , if heating it comes from not been rolled enough often at the walls , another reason for heating is cut to dry at your dm it seems as if you could have cut 10 days earler get it 32dm for bulls , or When a clamp is opened before the fermentation has stabilised, there is an increased risk of aerobic instability caused by undesirable yeast and mould activity which produces heat, reducing feed values.Once a clamp starts to heat up, energy is being wasted and feed intakes reduced, many of the french wait 8 weeks before opening the pit

[@FARMERPHIL3690]

We’re feeding maize silage at a rate of 4kg a head a day currently just incase i for got to say it

[@patcoakley7980]

4kgs per head per day seems low @ 36% DM it is only 1.44 kgs of feed on a DM basis , I am not a nutritionist but I think you could feed more than this if you have enough maize and daily liveweight gain should improve

[@cdemo1186]

Super video Phil, I do love the bit of maths thrown into the farming. Fair play to ya for covering it so in depth. 👌

[@shayphelan6245]

Hi Phil interesting video and good to see you calculating the cost of growing the maize crop. The Teagasc variable costs for maize production in 2021 were €1618 per hectare including all contractor charges. A slight decrease from 2020 due to slightly cheaper fertilisers. Shay Phelan Teagasc.

[@superman9772]

your right bout the seed... investing in proper seed for your climate zone is the most important decision.... some corn/maize varieties maybe ready for harvest within 100 days of sowing (so you can plant later like in late may or june for a october harvest)

[@gerryoconnor8751]

Great interesting video Phil, one thing a top class tillage farmer told me years ago was never to spare anything when you put a crop in the ground. I have never lost money on a crop since.

[@georgedoorley5628]

a good tillage farmer told me a long time ago .....never to grow a crop unless your land was top class .......... think your farmer was also correct .........

[@gerryoconnor8751]

@@georgedoorley5628 agree George 👍

[@DaleChapmanCornwall]

When I worked a pit I learnt off my old man to keep the face level it helped a lot with waste. Don’t be afraid to get the pitchfork out!

[@claetuswoodroofe4164]

A very progressive 120 cow dairy farmer near me says if you are renting land to grow winter feed maze is the crop because you get a lot of milk per acre compared to growing grass on the same acre lowering your land rental per litre of milk.He is growing maze constantly on rented land for many many years as it’s cheaper to pay the contractor to draw a load of maze than grass back to his farm relative to the milk he gets in return.

[@colinwientjens1871]

Hi Phil. Great video. I think if you view your maize silage as more of a high quality base fodder source in your diet, like good quality grass silage that’s the way to use it. I’d say ideally you still need the meal in there as a finishing ration. I reckon where you could get big gains in your operation is feeding maize to your younger cattle to improve the quality of their diet without too much expensive meal. Calves will hit their second grass season bigger and will finish quicker. If you want a good reference for use in dairy beef look into the rose veal and how they do it.

[@JTGamingFarmsim]

Phil when are we getting a video on the new compressor

[@harvest585]

Phil im with you on non stop doing the figures,,

[@upthereds4939]

Respect for the honesty on the figures Phil . Great stuff 👍🏻

[@ger7810]

Phil, for your plastic experiment which is great I think you should split each field half plastic because soil conditions will vary from one field to the other

[@Imtheman1977]

Fair play for detail. Are you not missing costs for tilling and dung up front and also the plastic/time to cover?

[@dannyjones7181]

No point counting all them costs sure that is farming for you! When cattle are sold it is no wonder why there is not much left out of them and some times a lost 😞 totally agree with you Pagraic that is why at times during the year mr g doesn’t have his sheds full of cattle 🤔

[@goodiezgrigis]

We can't put it into ground before May and we don't use plastic. Sometimes it is planted into barley stubble in june but it is harvested in october for silage. No corn/maize is frost tolerant, you need to look for shorter day variety's, under 110 days. Yield is maybe 10% lower or the same if the weather is good. Plant variety that fits your growing window and you don't need plastic.

[@diggerdave.6587]

9:29 he looked like he was about to start telling you your maths were wrong. Very interesting video Phil, I liked the chop length explanation. Dave.

[@magsprettejohn2160]

Great video, the facts and figures went a bit over my head as I'm not a farmer but I really enjoyed seeing the big bulls in the background enjoying their grub, there are some real lovely looking bulls there.

[@stonemad4197]

How well does a pit of maize keep... What about doing double next year and keeping the second bit for the following year and always work a year behind, can be fed in October onwards then

[@willmoore3790]

Trouble we found with maize was badgers love it and we got TB really bad so we stopped growing it and the TB stopped shame though the cattle always looked well on it

[@tomaswall6935]

Another cost of growing your own Vs buying in maze meal would be land charge. Your field is locked up for the year also and it wouldn't be if you were buying in the meal. At 300 per acre (what you'd get for rent) Is about 15 euro per tonne cost to be added.

[@rj2210]

Refreshingly honest and interesting video as per usual Phil 🙌 Really enjoying your content recently, not many other KZbinrs as willing to put figures out there like this 👍🏻 Keep it up lad

[@oliver69cork46]

Grew maize in cork on a sunny South facing field, 4 years had it. No plastic used because of medium loam soil and free draining. First 2 years were very very good,grew to a tremendous height and yielded very well. Good silage and good cobs. Second 2 years,disaster mainly due to late September early October between wind and rain it turned out very bad,didn't even bother to test it but visually less than 50% yield. Not at all economic and especially it couldn't be outside the southern irish climate,its marginal. Changed to cocksfoot ,red clover mix,no comparison on yield,flexibility and feed value plus very economic. Protein and energy were high and needed no supplement or specialised machinery. Comparing maize meal to maize silage is not comparative as meal is 100% grain ground with no forage matter. It comes from a maize growing climate and quality is guaranteed. Again not economic as phil has identified when 8,8 ton to 1 ton of meal.

[@johncallaghan3367]

Great video and insight into your costings

[@rayoregan4225]

Good video phil as always but the maize is costing you far more than that. Put in plough and tilling at 30 euro a run would be 90 an acre, plus 130 for harvesting, 220 acre and average cost of land, no this is opporunity cost if you let the land out, say 150 so thats 370 an acre extra and would be the true cost of the Maize.

[@user-rw2um8ro2p]

Great video Phil very interesting well presented and put together really enjoyed it

[@johnearle6667]

Great video but How much a tonne do you think maize costs per tonne taking the cost of land and all costs inc harvesting into account Phil ?

[@FARMERPHIL3690]

An extra €1.36 ish for diesel and it’s not on rented land

[@dannyjones7181]

@@FARMERPHIL3690 I doubt the figures could be eroded a lot more even if the land was not rented it could have been used to grow a crop of barley take account of the profit per acre it would have made + €100/ac straw chopping!! The maize at €300/t may not seem that dear landed in the yard 🤔

[@sucklerbeefdiehard6476]

@@FARMERPHIL3690 since you are renting in half ypur farmed area you must divide the total annual rent charges into every acre you farm including your owned land . otherwise you are fooling yourself . surely diesel is not your only machinery expense to be considered . your costs in running your machinery fleet like repayments and repairs etc have to be divided over total area farmed .

[@billboy7365]

Reqlly do enjoy the variety on your channel from the tractor work to feeding and again videos like this only started watching last week but been catching up an enjoy your dads input a lot to

[@hollyjensen2371]

So the take away of all these fun figures seems to me to be....happy Farmer Phil (saved money), happy cattle (chomping down maize silage in their ration and gaining weight nicely), happy customers from tasty beef. More than worrying about the starch in maize meal vs maize silage, the total cost seems to come down to how long it takes to feed until finishing, total feed cost. I don't know if you feed any beet for starch or sugar, but would that be cheaper to add into the finishing feed to boost those extra few kilograms of body weight? Production costs going up are a tough call, but if you have to buy maize, production costs for that maize is going to go up too. Hopefully the costs of biodegradable film will go down sooner than later, maybe a grant to test it out? the bulls looked great. If I were in Ireland, I would be buying your beef. great vid

[@Griffinwoods-nv7th]

Would yous know the difference wen u feed maize and don't feed in the weight of the bulls

[@abbiejones1843]

One thinng you forgot to say with growing maize 🌽 is keep your pit narrow. Than your useing fresh maize every day no good in a wide pit . Because has you have found its going off. And warming up..

[@seangaynor7458]

I think you need just over 5 tons of fresh weight maize silage @ 36% dm and 40% starch to replace the starch in maize meal at 75%

[@tommywalsh9720]

Great video phil very interesting just shows a lot more to farming then people think

[@agoodbluewilldo8359]

Jasus well that's some amount of stats and figures lad!! My head is bursting!!!!! Great info tho, glad it worked out well for ya. Cattle are definitely showing how good it is

[@sheeepguy7311]

How did you come up with 22 tonne to the Acre yield. What are using as a protein balancer for the maize, giving bulls only 4 kg a day for a short period can’t be doing anything for the killout and fat score or growth rates.

[@FARMERPHIL3690]

It’s an estimate based on the number of trailer load off the field. We’re also feeding barley beans oats, wholecroped wheat, biscuit meal and minerals to the bulls

[@sheeepguy7311]

Maize as a feed is low in protein and needs to balanced, the only ingredient that might help is beans, the rest are all in the 10% protein range and your maize was in the 8% range. How can you get fat score, growth rate, killout on a low % ration, the cattle you recently killed were all under fat score and grade for age at 22 months of age.

[@FARMERPHIL3690]

our ration was done by a nutritionalist and we were told we didnt need to by in any meal

[@michaelmcnamara7971]

@@FARMERPHIL3690 Also its Energy that fattens cattle Protein

[@patrickcashman5909]

Feeditop is the name of the Variety, rates well for starch. Dept of ag have restarted uncovered Maize trials in Ireland. Some interesting new varieties coming down on stream for Irish conditions soon more suited to uncovered. Would be worth trying some.

[@jackodonoghue4938]

Finally uploaded was waiting until you put it up on you insta great vid

[@brendanbannon78]

nice video of maize worth the money philip

[@OUKRH5]

Very nice Video, i am from Austria i ve never seen maize under plastic, how is that plastic applied and removed again?

[@theghostofcornpop4175]

Fair play Phil putting the numbers out there , I'd say maize will be too dear this year between feet cost , plastic cost , ad- blue shortage , fuel cost , curse oil heading over 100 dollars a barrel , will be a tight year and for the price in the super market too , hope we make it 🤞🤞

[@tonymurray814]

Get vexed ya egit

[@theghostofcornpop4175]

@@tonymurray814 why , sure they don't work ya clown lol

[@conorbuckley6764]

Very good video Phil keep your videos coming can’t wait till the next video

[@MyPromixdirt]

perhaps the nutritionist at the feed mill could help they would need to know that info on certain feed combinations to be cost effective etc etc, Also, feed mill product has micro nutrients added for proper balanced mix and can be ordered any combo-mix you want.

[@willemkool7932]

Have you considered growing growing dutch varieties of mais. Never seen plastic there.

[@johnsheahan7914]

Great video as always keep up the great work

[@joggabonkers6380]

Above 30% starch is great! As for milking cows, production will go up dramatically, we are talking about 2-3 kg/day per cow. So its worth it for many if you have the available fields. However quality of maize is variable from year to year.

[@tonyroberts779]

Top man Phil brilliant explanation

[@livingladolcevita7318]

of course maize is originally from south america, a warm country. I grow sweetcorn on my allotment and I know I have to put quite a lot of chicken manure on to get it to grow fast enough to get it to a stage when we do have some sunshine it matures in time. Have you considered sugar beet? as a starch/ sugar source. The French would also grow parsnips as an animal feed.

[@hushtonblock2207]

You need to compare on basis of energy/performance, not just starch content (cattle also digest fibre). TDN (~73%) can be estimated from ADF. Your corn silage looks to be of very good energy content relative to corn grain (~88% TDN). Using values you provide, assuming your maize meal is equivalent to plain corn grain, you need ~3X more wet tonnes of silage to get same energy supply as corn. The maize meal will have feed cost ~3.9X more per unit energy, ~3.8X more per animal day, and 3.3X more per unit live weight gain. Would need more information to compare total feed cost vs. weight gain from off-pasture to slaughter. Nutrient requirement models used to estimate intake and gain..many are available. Neglecting harvest cost, etc. is a miss that should be avoided (time could have been spent elsewhere) and will reduce the silage advantage. Cattle growth on either feed would likely benefit from rumen degradable protein supply.

[@wesleyhastings3961]

Hi there my math adds to 4.4 tonnes maize to a tonne of ground maize

[@ciaranomalley9274]

Excellent breakdown Phil thanks for making the effort and sharing it

[@johnearle6667]

Maize and beet is rocket fuel but I don’t think there will be a lot of maize grown this year because I got a price this week of €790 a tonne for 18|6|12

[@michealodonovan95]

We mix maize, soya, barley and beet

[@madeljacky]

And i got a price of £700 (sterling) per ton for 46% Urea, cant even get a price yet for 24/6/12 or 24/0/13 compound fertilizer

[@JayKehoe]

Great video Phil thank you for sharing this with us most farmers won’t talk about money what they make or spend so it’s great your open and honest about it. Love the videos keep up the great work.. 👍🏻 and you should buy the paus 👍🏻

[@sandymcghee3328]

Great video Phil keep them coming stay safe 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@katecarroll4053]

What did the cost for the rent of the land

[@jascollinscork]

Fantastic video Phil FairPlay to ya honest to the core👌🏻…… never seen any other KZbinr doing it!!!😍

[@ericsimpson4732]

When we getting update on 6290?

[@sambrummitt3359]

Spot on Massey man

[@DannyRice01]

Theres very high starch and protein in Triticale could you try growing some of it next year for wholecrop? Easier to grow and can yield similar results according to a Dale Farm day we went to

[@rich7584]

Interesting... Guess it's alot cheaper to grow too. Any more info?

[@benjaminbauer4883]

Maize in the north must yield low dm tonnes per ac. Because unless you are going to get multiple cuts of trit your not going to get the same yield per ac.

[@hallambrown977]

We grow 40 acres of maize (no plastic) we find ground preparation is absolutely key for us we use pioneer sowing at 100000 seeds an acre and we have been trialing with sowing more or less an acre but have found going less gave us a lower yield , we use an additive when harvesting which helps , we are currently finishing steers and heifers at 22-24 months killing out at 600kg for heifers and 700kg steers

[@oghuzkhan5117]

what do you give your animals. can you please explain. In Netherlands our feed is 55 kilo a day per cow. 75% reygrass and 25% maise. and of course the additional subliments

[@hallambrown977]

@@oghuzkhan5117 we are feeding 30kg of maize per head per day but we also feed Lucerne bales at night to balance the ration with protein

[@oghuzkhan5117]

@@hallambrown977 how much lucerne? 30 kg maize and ... kg lucerne? and how much kilo are the cows? thanks in advance

[@hallambrown977]

@@oghuzkhan5117 we don’t weigh the Lucerne but it’s fed ad-lib and we are trying to finish heifers at 600kg and steers at 700kg

[@oppamaclare]

Don't forget the cost of "lost opportunity". Those 7 acres you cut maize on, are 7 acres that you could have kept cattle on. So the profit that could have come from beef on those 7 acres is a cost you have to consider. Many farmers growing their own crops forget this real cost.

[@FARMERPHIL3690]

So in theory I add the profit of x amount of cattle off the same acerage in grass to the cost or do I show the estimated savings made in finishing the cattle by growing the maize against the estimated profit of x amount of cattle that could be produced off the land?

[@oppamaclare]

@@FARMERPHIL3690 "Lost Opportunity" is kinda confusing as it's not like a normal cost where you take out a cheque book and pay for it. It is in effect the profits you forfeit from Option B, by choosing to go with Option A. So it helps you focus on the best possible option for that land. The most profitable. The problem in your case is you have a lot of options. These could be; 1 - Graze the 7 acres & buy in Maize Meal 2 - Grow maize on 7 acres and feed to cattle 3 - Grow maize on 7 acres, sell maize pit out the gate, buy in maize meal. Unlikely but still an option. You can compare all options on a per cattle head basis or per acre basis. The overall profits will be the same either way.

[@oppamaclare]

@@FARMERPHIL3690 Some worked figures using simple example. Say you grow maize on 30 acres of your total of 300. You estimate a saving of say €15k versus the equivalent maize bought in. You now however have 10% less cattle to sell. So say 30 cattle at a profit of say €200. That's €6k. Your overall saving (increased profit) is 15k minus 6k = €9k. You do need to cost everything for the maize too, like loss of manure you would have spread on the grazing land, maybe extra lime needed longterm, wear and tear of machinery etc etc ......

[@michaelmcnamara7971]

@@oppamaclare Prob easiest to just include a rent for the land as the OPP cost as that is the only option that does not involve additional inputs.

[@robevans8555]

Omg I've a sore head now lol, just shows farming isn't all about driving tractors lol. Great video Phil

[@DianeD862]

Just love these beautiful videos so interesting .We love farmer Phil and Liv and family hope Uncle Ian is doing well 😅. Good luck.😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

[@timizod8966]

Phil we love your honesty 👍

[@liamkilmartin743]

When will ye have the 6290 running for bro

[@seamusgargan5567]

most farmers don't have the equipment to do the work themselves e.g. harvesting. so on top of all the incurred expenses how much an acre to harvest the maize

[@FARMERPHIL3690]

We used 40 ish litres of diesel to harvest it so that’s another 23€ ish per acre

[@seamusgargan5567]

what I meant Phil was how much you would charge me per acre to harvest it including drawing and bucking up ,

[@dannyjones7181]

@@seamusgargan5567 it couldn’t be much he may only charge you for the diseal 🤔that seems to be the way he is counting against his own crop !!

[@owenieowen]

@@seamusgargan5567 I think we where charged 120 per acre 2021 for harvest

[@dannyjones7181]

@@owenieowen so at that way of counting there would be a difference of €100 / ac nearly another €5 a tonne at 22 tonnes/ acre! That’s if the maize was weighed before going into the pit

[@irvenrathburn9421]

A lot of good info on corn . It will be fun to see how the next shipment of bulls do at the factory . How is the 6290 going ?

[@iainpaton7129]

Interesting video friend thank you 😊and please keep the great work up and please keep the great videos coming and please stay safe friend from Scotland 👍😊

[@mauricesheehy2460]

Whatabout the cost of the land.300 euros an acre.

[@declanf9184]

Great video Why did you not buy the loader Would you not try beet

[@tkinvy9750]

Will you consider tonnage of grass on those fields harvested? I agreed with the video BTW it’s big risk with high inputs but the right season it seems to work out. Having said that down here in Australia we can get oaten hay which has a similar effect pretty cheap per kg/DM. Sadly damned if ya do damned if you don’t If ya have the land roll the dice & give yourself control over market prices but take the risk on the season. Gee this farming game ain’t simple is it

[@Gearoid35]

Nice video Phil very informative

[@colinwalsh9922]

The meat factory has lots of big buck guys doing this number crunching all the time they know exactly how much to pay you for your beef just to break you even....and you will do it all again next year 🙈

[@shanemannion4077]

Are you going to put front links on the 3690 ??

[@kierancl]

you should be working for teagasc!!!

[@oisinfurlong7186]

what would be the next tractor for the fleet

[@mylesalovelysong.oreilly3165]

Great video Phil looking forward to seen this year's Springs work god bless you all 🙏❤🇮🇪

[@tomwhelan4607]

bril, thank you very much.

[@tiakitahunafarmadventurepa5694]

Cost at our place 2700 per hectare in New Zealand dollars to grow our maze

[@michaelconway81]

Good man Phil. Great video. Very well done!

[@Avemtec]

Great video...interesting...having own equipment definitely more cost effective...

[@jamesjohnston1007]

Great video Phil

[@tobytopp9985]

ME yield per hectare is so high with maize, I’ve heard some people saying it’s cheaper to grow maize for ME yield than a 3 year intensive Italian ryegrass sward per year. God knows if that’s true, but the savings with concentrate usage, particularly in dairying, it’s a no brainier to some. But there’s very good stewardship payments with growing alternative whole crop, such as barley and beans in the UK, as they don’t like the impact to the soil that maize does. But other whole crops don’t compete with maize ME yield.

[@joggabonkers6380]

Yeah, the amount of food you get per acre is typically the same you'd get from four cuts of grass in the same field.. I dunno that many who get four cuts of grass per year.. So definately less work for same or more production.

[@charliereilly6793]

Very interesting video Phil love the videos keep it up lad

[@padraiggeaney3167]

Brilliant video Phil very interesting the figures 👍

[@roymclean4763]

Very interesting video

[@michaelfegan4198]

What about if you rent the land? How much is an acre we’re you are Phil?

[@FARMERPHIL3690]

Grassland is 200-250 an acre ish

[@michaelfegan4198]

@@FARMERPHIL3690 Thanks In Co Down Phil ground would be £200 to £300 pound’s for grass Spuds over £450 pounds Barely £200 pounds

[@dannyjones7181]

@@michaelfegan4198 add 20% more for change of currency!

[@martinregan6765]

Great and interesting video!

[@dougtheviking6503]

Strange about the seed story . Syngenta is global. French seed ,Danish seed ? Seed Rep would have something for your area . If you have them .

[@abbeattie8398]

how much starch in a round bale of good grass

[@Modlendingen]

Interesting video. I know maize has been grown in the south coast of Norway, but it is hard i belive :)

[@tadhgkiernan9611]

How must do u use day

[@FARMERPHIL3690]

4kg a day

[@declanfarmerjoyce7639]

Great video & analysis along with it aswell. Your right about the further south the better weather. On the other side of thing's the further West you the worse the weather get's aswell. So it's very hard to see a financial befit to growing maze or other groups in the West of Ireland. I'm very surprised that (Teagasc) hasn't any of the costing, you were looking for Phil. Also the cost of production on the different levels,can be very hard to find. Aswell as who's right & not right. Also people need to realize,what work's for 1 farmer mightn't work for them or another farmer. For different reasons, ie land quality,weather,etc. Anyway great video again Phil. Keep up the good work.👏👏👍👍 Happy New Year to all of the gang of ye there & all the best in 2022.👏👏👍👍

[@spannermonkey]

Great video mate, fair effort on the maths!👏👍

[@crfarmlife1267]

Great video phill very informative 👌👍🤙

[@wanemergency3591]

But you have to include your harvest cost. You have to buy and maintain that machinery. So add €70 per acre

[@FARMERPHIL3690]

We always view the maintenance of the machinery to be covered by the contracting work we do. But it’s hard to put a figure on maintenance of equipment

[@dannyjones7181]

@@FARMERPHIL3690 everything has a cost every enterprise should stand on its own merit! If the true costs are not added in you are only pissing against the wind 🙈

[@wanemergency3591]

@@FARMERPHIL3690 you need to be charging the farm the price a contractor would charging to chop your maze and put it in the clamp.

[@sucklerbeefdiehard6476]

@@FARMERPHIL3690 i am so shocked by this statement .but not suprised . .i have suspected for a while that your contracting business was propping up your beef business.. but to see it confirmed shocks me . its no wonder you can make money on those dairy bulls with high rental land charges when your only machinery cost is a drop of diesel . you have the right breeds of cattle to consume this expensive feed but they need to go into a milking parlour twice a day if you wish to cover the real cost of growing it and leave a margin ,

[@wanemergency3591]

@@sucklerbeefdiehard6476 has contracting ever actually propped up anything ever?. If you wanted to make money normally the 1st thing you avoid is contracting. Been there and done it

[@gordonmilne6209]

Enjoyable as usual great 👍

[@44birdie44]

Just on the available seed varieties. You mentioned French seed has been the predominate seed available and you will be switching to Dutch seed. Is there Irish bred seed available? If not, is this not something that we should have been working on this 20+ years? Would make sense to develop Irish seed for Irish conditions. Good video.

[@upthereds4939]

Samco do serious amount of work testing maize varieties

[@FARMERPHIL3690]

It’s the harvesting of the seed in Ireland is the problem to my knowledge as it’s near impossible to harvest it dry enough in Ireland at that time of the year for it to be suitable for seed

[@tipperarymick5337]

Interesting video, but you are leaving out other costs apart from the harvesting and labour. All that dung had to be spread on the land, which also involved time and diesel. You have to include a cost for the dung, it is a valuable manure and without it your fertilizer bill would be at least twice or even treble what it was. And you also have to include a cost for the land. There's no point saying you own the land, if you are buying in the feed that frees up the land for other uses. If you were not using the land to grow the maize and leased it out it would bring in possibly 2000 euro.

[@FARMERPHIL3690]

The cost of spreading the dung is included in the estimated diesel cost but I don’t know how to put a cost on the dung as it’s a byproduct of the cattle and while a valuable fertiliser it still has to spread somewhere.

[@tipperarymick5337]

@@FARMERPHIL3690 That's fair enough. It wasn't a criticism as such, just often think people leave out a land cost when making up these things.

[@donalfitzpatrick7737]

We'll have to starting calling u Farmer Rainman , fairplay to u but sure it has to b done for u to get the most out of them boys . Hope Uncle doin OK 💪

[@smalldairyfarmer]

Very interesting video enjoyed 👍