Digestibility and yield are the main yardsticks used by John Allen when it comes to choosing forage maize varieties. Last year, his decision to grow one of the new-style compact maize varieties that contain a larger proportion of their dry matter in the cob - and correspondingly less in the leaves and stem - paid off handsomely. He is convinced that this helped him clinch the title of Eastern counties regional winner in the national Maize Growers' Association's silage competition. As livestock manager for Lord Rayleigh's Farms, near Chelmsford, Essex, John Allen is responsible for choosing the maize varieties which provide the bulk of the forage ration for the 700 cows - split into three dairy units, but all under similar feeding management.
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