As the spring gets underway, sectors are looking to plant crops and plan fodder requirements for the year ahead. Maize under film has been highlighted in recent months over the introduction of the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive.

Samco has been working behind the scenes over many years to develop sustainable film alternatives for use with the Samco system. It’s a well known fact that the film adds value to the crop and gives farmers security, reducing the risks of growing maize in the open.

Maize is a high-value feed and using film can give higher yields off the same acreage compared to other crops. The benefits are well known at this stage, such as earlier sowing, seedling protection from late frosts and the ability to grow a higher-yielding hybrid.

Samco has long been involved in researching sustainable compostable materials with the view to move away from the traditional oil-based films that have been used until recently.

This coming season, we will see a more commercial emphasis on the new compostable films that Samco is bringing to the market.

These films, while relatively new to the market, have been used in the background by some growers over the past two seasons.

The compostable film is compatible with the current Samco machines and a supply to these machines will continue. In 2020, Samco increased its capacity to produce compostable films at its base in Co. Limerick.

The firm has also developed new drills for narrow rolls and machines suitable for min-till cultivation to further reduce costs where possible, and allow growers to decide on a cultivation technique that suits their soil type.

Gordon Shine from Shines Agri Supplies comments that he expects maize acreage to increase by 10-15% in 2022.

“Farmers have genuine concerns about grain price and potential availability this coming winter," he said.

Gordon explained that forage maize in the diet will displace some of the grain maize that will be in short supply.

This year, maize growers in Ireland will be able to view both the traditional and compostable films on-farm as the existing stocks of the oil-based films are being sold alongside the newer compostable films.

Maize will remain an important forage and rotational crop here in Ireland using compostable films into the future.

We rely too heavily on imported grains and with the increasing cost in these commodities, growing maize in 2022 has never looked as economical. Growing maize on your farm allows farmers to utilise farmyard manure and slurry to grow the crop more cost effectively.

Tillage farmers looking to grow maize on contract or in their crop rotations will reap the soil-health benefits from the deep-rooting crop, which assists following winter crops' yields.

For more information on film for growing maize, click here.