Crimped maize takes its place in major agribusiness

Grain maize has become an important break crop for an 11,000-acre agribusiness just north of London. All sold as feed to dairy and beef producers, we find out why it is best made and traded as crimp, rather than dried.

When you’re running an agribusiness of 11,000 acres (4,452ha), which spans the county of Hertfordshire just north of London, every enterprise must be closely scrutinised to ensure it pays its way.

“We were already growing forage maize as a break crop but as arable farmers, we had to employ contractors for the foraging process,” he says. “And then, the maize had to be moved a long distance to an AD plant, which wasn’t ideal for such a bulky crop.” So, drawing on his earlier experience as a manager of mixed arable and livestock farms on which he had grown and fed crimped wheat and barley, he proposed introducing the crimping process to maize.

“To me, it seemed like a no-brainer,” he says. “I had worked with Kelvin Cave in the past and seen the benefits of feeding crimp, especially its palatability and intakes which compare so well against dry, milled cereals.”  

“We also had one maize header on the farm at that time, so we already had the necessary kit to give it a try,” he says. Furthermore, he calculated that crimping would be far most cost-effective than drying the maize, despite having dryers on the farm. “You’re looking at a cost of up to £50 to dry a tonne of grain maize and store it in a shed, compared with about £25 per tonne to crimp and store it as a moist grain in a clamp, which also frees up shed storage space,” he says.

There’s also the saving on energy for the dryer, which chimes with the objectives for the business to lower its carbon footprint.

Late planting in 2024

So, the first maize crop destined for crimping was sown in a wet, cold spring, but despite a late planting, the crop did reasonably well and reached eight tonnes of grain per hectare.

“We chose six different maize varieties from several plant breeders to find one that best suits our soils and to spread the risk,” he says.

And when harvest time came, the benefits were obvious. “Everything about it was good,” says Malcolm. “We did not make any mess in the fields, despite the wet autumn, as the combines on tracks run on the chopped leaves and stems. “Nor did we make any mess on the roads which is a major benefit while farming in such an urban area,” he adds.

Low ground-pressure grain chaser bins were used to collect the grain and take it to the sides of fields where it was transferred into HGVs for carting to the clamp.

Here, the grain was crimped through a roller and the preservative, CrimpSafe 300 was applied.

“This preservative works by controlling the fermentation of the crimped maize, minimising any nutrient loss which could occur in a poorly controlled fermentation,” explains Michael Carpenter, Kelvin Cave’s technical director who worked with Malcolm through the process. “It is formulated to give maximum protection against spoilage organisms which could cause deterioration of the feed once the clamp is opened for feed-out.”

“We would not have a quality product to sell without it,” adds Malcolm, remarking that with no livestock on the farm, except sheep for winter grazing, every tonne of the crimp is destined for sale.

As for his customers, who are dairy and beef producers, many in the farm’s immediate area but also stretching across the UK including into Scotland, he says they keep coming back for more. “Instantly, as soon as they start feeding it, they are generally in touch and ordering again,” he says. “Within a matter of weeks they can see milk production increase and liveweight gains go up, whenever it is fed in the place of dried, rolled grain. “Just as I found when I used crimp years ago on mixed arable farms, it is so palatable and increases intakes – the cattle go mad for it!”

Michael confirms the additional reason performance is so good is because of crimp’s superior nutritional value compared with a dry crop. “It’s not just about the extra intakes because of the high palatability of crimped products, but it’s also about the additional nutritional value of the fermented crop,” he says.

Financial viability

Assessing the viability of the enterprise, Malcolm says it all stacks up as long as yields of 10t/ha (4t/acre) are achieved and it is sold ex-farm at £200 per tonne. “We feel that represents good value for the product we are selling,” he says. “This year’s crop got off to a much better start than last year’s so we’re anticipating 10 tonnes/ha, if not more,” he adds. And with a full order book for the 2,000 tonnes he crimped in 2024, he says he hopes there will be 3,000 tonnes to sell from the 2025 harvest. “With such a large arable area the rotation will take more maize,” he says. “We’d be happy to ramp up production if demand continues to rise.”