FARM ZONE

An advice, comment and opinion resource for the agricultural community
Maize Seed – The Bigger Picture

Maize Seed – The Bigger Picture

In the second blog on maize production in the UK, Bright Maize business manager Charlie Dolphin looks at the wider maize market, future prospects and the issues driving breeding programmes Forage maize was virtually unknown as a crop in the UK 60 years ago. Yet today...

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EATING MAIZE AROUND THE WORLD

EATING MAIZE AROUND THE WORLD

As maize producers start thinking about the coming growing season, we thought it might be apt to take a global look at the many ways this most versatile of foods is served    Indigenous central Americans first domesticated maize from wild teosintes about 10,000 years...

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Maize Seed: Your Options for 2024

Maize Seed: Your Options for 2024

Bright Maize business manager, Charlie Dolphin, looks at this year’s maize campaign and highlights a couple of new varieties that appear among the 20 plus offerings available to growers in 2024 With a third of this year’s forage maize seed already bought, the bulk of...

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AGRI POLITICS OVER THE YEARS

AGRI POLITICS OVER THE YEARS

With the volatility of our national politics showing no sign of abating, we thought it would be a good idea to look at Agri politics over the years – and specifically the Ministers and Secretaries who have presided over farming’s ups and downs in the postwar era. The...

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A Recent History Of Milk – Part II: The Milking Cow

A Recent History Of Milk – Part II: The Milking Cow

In the second of our blogs looking at the UK dairy industry over the last 80 years, Bright Maize business manager Charlie Dolphin looks at the remarkable changes in the management of the milking cow: and how this has influenced her performance and her role within the...

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A recent history of milk

A recent history of milk

With moves afoot to address the mechanism by which milk price is set – intended to alleviate at least some of the concerns held by producers – Bright Maize business manager Charlie Dolphin looks back at the UK dairy sector over the years. He starts with the inception...

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Seed-Bed Preparation: The Key to forage maize Success

Seed-Bed Preparation: The Key to forage maize Success

Bright Maize’s Business Manager, Charlie Dolphin, observes that the maize crops doing best this year are those which were drilled into well prepared seed-beds which held sufficient moisture to support speedy germination and establishment. Such is the importance of...

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Forage Inoculant – Winners & Losers?

Forage Inoculant – Winners & Losers?

Demand for forage inoculant has increased year on year since Bright Maize introduced its own range of tailored products ten years ago. Business Manager, Charlie Dolphin, looks at how the story has unfolded over the last decade and why the sceptics have been proved...

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Maize Season 2023 – How’s It Going?

Maize Season 2023 – How’s It Going?

Bright Maize Business Manager, Charlie Dolphin, looks at this this year’s maize season so far, and comments on the trends and challenges. He also observes that those who grow maize are becoming more discerning in their attitude towards the crop and how it is grown....

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Amy Hart Joins The Bright Maize Team

Amy Hart Joins The Bright Maize Team

A couple of months into her journey, we look at how Amy Hart is tackling the job and the workload she has taken on... Amy Hart has joined Bright Maize to cover sales in East Anglia and Wales. She joins the company having had experience in the seed and equine sectors;...

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