Maize has been receiving some bad press of late. This doesn't mean we should do away with M using it as a game crop altogether, it is just that people are becoming more aware of the downsides to growing it.
One of the biggest issues associated with the growing of maize is soil erosion and the connected loss of topsoil, as well as the leaching of chemicals into watercourses. It is also hungry crop, and as such is relatively expensive to grow when compared with something such as a millet mix, which requires less fertiliser. Add to that the fact that maize cobs feed significantly fewer farmland birds than the small seed crops do, and that a maize crop can be a magnet for undesirables such as rats and crows - which will stay in and around the area surrounding a game crop and actively seek out and predate the eggs and chicks of the very birds we are trying to help and you can see why the alternatives are becoming more popular schemes Maize is excluded from Countryside Stewardship for these very reasons, so if your crops are going to be part of a farm stewardship scheme, you are going to have to choose something else anyway. Kale is an obvious choice as it qualifies for use in wild bird seed mixes, because the small seeds it produces and sheds in its second year are a favourite food source of many of our smaller finches and seed-eaters. That a kale crop can be left for a second and very occasionally a third year is another selling point, but it is becoming harder are a good maize and sy to grow to grow.
If the seed is being sown into fertile (and well looked after) arable ground, the plants will probably do quite well. The same goes for kale crops that are following a grass ley.
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Denne historien er fra May 10, 2023-utgaven av Shooting Times & Country.
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United we stand
Following United Utilities' decision to end grouse shooting on its land, Lindsay Waddell asks what will happen if we ignore our vital moors
Serious matters
An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning
They're not always as easy as they seem
While coneys of the furry variety don't pose a problem for Blue Zulu, he's left frustrated once again by bolting bunnies of the clay sort
Debutant gundogs
There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting
When the going gets rough
Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
In this excerpt from the 60th anniversary edition of the BDS's Field Guide To British Deer, Charles Smith-Jones considers the noise they make
A step too far?
Simon Garnham wonders whether a new dog, a new gun and two different fields in need of protection might have been asking too much for one afternoon's work
Two bucks before breakfast
A journey from old South London to rural Hertfordshire to stalk muntjac suggests that the two aren't as far detached as they might seem
Stalking Diary
Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill
Gamekeeper
Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside