United Kingdom
January 6, 2026
Farming on the northern margins of the North Wessex Downs, Hamish McIntosh has always tried to maximise the contribution maize makes to his milking ration.
Soil types vary across the farm, some being challengingly heavy, so success has come with tailoring variety selection according to field conditions, as well as staying abreast of the latest developments in maize breeding, in order to continually improve his output.
In 2025 – a year that has proved challenging for many maize growers – the decision to grow one of the very latest early maturing varieties to come onto the BSPB/NIAB Descriptive List has certainly paid dividends.
Based at Hardwell Farm, near Knighton in Oxfordshire, Hamish runs a 400-cow milking herd alongside 200 acres of arable cropping and a similar acreage of grassland. The herd is conventionally managed, calving all year round, housed in the winter months, and outside during the grazing season. In an area where TB is a continual threat, as many heifers as possible are retained on the farm, in a quest to maintain numbers.
Hamish McIntosh and his dairy herd at Hardwell Farm
The aim is to minimise parlour-fed concentrates and derive as much as possible from the mixed ration, to support average yields of 9,000 litres/cow. Maize silage certainly plays a key part in this strategy, comprising around half of the forage component.
Around 200 acres of maize are grown on the farm, fitting into a rotation with winter wheat and grass, and this year a quarter of the acreage was given over to newly listed LG Highlight.
“It’s a variety that has looked really promising in trials and fits perfectly with Hamish’s requirement for high dry matter yields, quality in the clamp, and a sufficiently early harvest to allow a following crop of winter wheat to be established,” says Nickerson seed specialist Fraser House. “LG Highlight will be one of the top new varieties for dry matter yield on the 2027 maize Descriptive Lists, and with an FAO rating of 170 it certainly has the earliness. It also has high starch yields and strong agronomic characteristics. Where farmers are looking for the combination of yield, quality and earliness, this is a variety that really hits the sweet spot.”
It was grown alongside Prospect, also FAO 170, and the slightly later maturing Conclusion, both from the Limagrain Field Seeds UK breeding programme and having a proven track record on the farm.
“Some of the land at Hardwell Farm is not the best for maize, so the policy is to grow what we think will perform in the particular circumstances,” continues Fraser. “Robust varieties with early vigour, good standing power and the necessary disease tolerance are what’s required, plus early maturity and high dry matter yields. Increasingly, we are seeing varieties that will deliver this full package, with the additional benefits of high cell wall digestibility that ensure farmers like Hamish can rely on having a full clamp of energy dense forage.”
With so much rain falling throughout the winter and spring, Hamish had to work hard to create a suitable seedbed for his 2025 maize crop. All the maize ground is ploughed, with slurry and manure applied before and sometimes afterwards.
“The heavy rain seems to be becoming more common and it does not help our heavier ground,” he says. “We’re increasingly needing to sub-soil, and on our heavier ground we’ll normally need to power harrow before drilling. We have our own maize drill, so we can be timely, going when the conditions are right.”
Optimum drilling date is 1st May at Hardwell Farm, and maize is drilled with DAP fertiliser down the spout and 125kg N/ha onto the seedbed. Pre- and post-emergence herbicides maintain good weed control, and – with that including a reduction in blackgrass on the farm – offers a wider benefit of having maize in the rotation.
“I’m aware of the specialist maize fertilisers and developments like foliar sprays, and we’ll keep a close eye on any ways to improve, but – at the moment – our system seems to be working. Growing the right varieties is a good part of our success, and being aware of the progress in maize breeding.”
The maize at Hardwell Farm was harvested on 20th September and, whilst it was not the best year for maize generally, Hamish was happy to see the LG Highlight standing out.
“It was our largest crop with big mature cobs, so it delivered what we wanted,” he says.
“We probably cut a little earlier than some, because I like to see some green leaf in the clamp. Overall, I’m very happy with the performance of the maize, and it was off in good time to establish the winter wheat.”
The maize will go into the ration at what Hamish considers the optimum level of around 50% of the forage, alongside grass silage, biscuit meal, a rape-soya meal and urea.
With maize breeding progress providing earlier varieties that avoid any compromise on dry matter yield or forage quality, it is a crop that will continue to be of great value at Hardwell Farm, for both milk production and crop rotation.
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