CCM: Are You Making the Most of Maize?

Lapriora - Ideal for silage CCM and grain maize

Increasingly, rather than using a combine harvester, the entire cob is harvested with a traditional forager using a picker header.  The resulting product is slightly lower in energy density than crimped maize grain, but because it contains the spindle and husk, it provides a useful source of added fibre.

Preservative is added at harvest, producing a ready to ensile feed, without then need for a crimping machine. Another advantage is that it can be harvested 10-14 days earlier than crimping, but avoids clashing with the regular forage maize window.

Key advantages of CCM

• Boosts scratch factor in higher maize diets
• Single pass operation producing a ‘ready to ensile’ feed
• Excellent feed values, typicaly11.3 ME
• High in NDF and starch

Francis Dunne – of Field Options – has seen CCM move further north in recent seasons - especially in Denmark and now even Sweden, due to the introduction of very early grain varieties which also produce impressive silage results.  He sees no reason why it shouldn’t happen in the UK.

 “By selecting very early grain type varieties, growers can take the bulk of their silage at normal timings, ‘reserving’ a proportion of their crop for CCM,” he says. There is now strong interest in producing so called ‘dual purpose’ hybrids, we have had excellent feedback from growers using both Kaukas, and our new very early variety Lapriora.

KWS maize specialist, John Burgess concurs : “The ideal dual purpose maize varieties need good early vigour, strong standing ability, early grain maturity enabling them to be used for both grain and silage. For CCM in particular, we would also favour a high cob : stover ratio, typical of grain type hybrids.”

“Of the new high vigour types, we’ve seen Lapriora do exceptionally well in all marginal areas, and Coryphee - the most vigorous maize in Kinghay’s trials last year, offers the opportunity to drill earlier and benefit from an advanced harvest date. Both offer strong flint type grain, indicative of their earliness, whilst maintaining very high yield potential in grain.”

On a recent trip to Denmark, Mr Dunne was part of a group that visited a top performing 10,000l/cow dairy farm that had in the past fed 80% maize silage in its winter ration.  Continuous problems with acidosis lead to reduced intakes, fertility and high cull rates.

In response, the farm changed its cropping, reducing its reliance on maize silage alone, instead switching to CCM harvested just 2 weeks after the forage maize. The result; better intakes and rumen function, as well as improved fertility and easier management.

Kingshay farm advisor for N England, Paul Robinson has seen an increased use of crimped maize in dairy rations in recent years and views CCM as an interesting development.

“The last thing any milk producer wants is maize with low dry matters and starches.  They are a non-starter,” he says.  “Here the key is to pick a proven variety, drill as early as you can into a good seedbed and harvest once DM has reached 30%.

While he has not yet seen CCM widely used in the UK, it works overseas and the theory is good.  “The more effective fibre and slightly lower starches ensure you don’t overload on starch.

“Agronomically, the earlier harvest compared to crimping should help reduce soil compaction and this will be a benefit on heavier soils even in the SW helping with cross compliance measures.  Compaction can cut result in 20% yield losses, cutting returns by £250/ha,” he points out.

Acknowledgments:  Kingshay Farm Consultancy & Field Options Ltd