between rain and lack of sun, a year in the fog

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They own 110 dairy cows for which they cultivate 40 hectares of corn.

The father, Daniel, retired but still alert and watching over what needs to be done, and his son Nicolas, like every year, sowed their corn in the spring.

We must sow under generous sunshine, generally between the end of April and mid-May, when the weather conditions are right.

“We harvest when the land is completely dry,” adds Nicolas.

Sowing takes them between a week and 10 days of work, because different stages must be taken into account, namely spreading manure, plowing, rotary harrow and sowing or even stubble cultivation, harrowing and sowing.

“But that’s in theory,” Daniel exclaims gently, “this year we sowed much later, between the end of May and the beginning of June.”

The sun was sorely lacking

The work lasted three weekends.

Every 15 days, they were able to benefit from a saving thinning.

And still they don't think they did a good job, it's the weather's fault.

“We were a little fair” admits the father. For the cereal to grow and reach maturity, it needs sun and water. This year the sun was sorely lacking.

When we experience drought here, and we've experienced that before, we always have a storm to save the day.

But when the sun is missing, it's very complicated, especially since it rained all spring and all summer, or almost.

Normally, farmers silage between September 15 and October 15.

“Last year, we harvested between September 7 and 10.”

But this year they had to wait until October 23 and 24.

Of course, since they had sown late, they expected to harvest late, but “corn needs an incompressible number of hours of sunlight to reach maturity.” Despite everything, the father and son were lucky, “extra lucky”.

A forage harvester schedule established three weeks before harvest

Because about three weeks before the harvest, 23 farmers decide together on the harvest schedule since the forage harvester belongs to Cuma (Cooperative for the use of agricultural equipment).

Everyone proposes a date, as Daniel wisely explains, “everyone puts forward their arguments”. The area is vast, and it has enormous variations in land structure and sunlight.

How do you know when to harvest?

Farmers measure the maturity of corn, not by the size of the stalks but by the hardness and density of the cobs.

If the ears are liquid, there is no need to think about it but when it is very hard, then it is urgent to harvest

Three weeks before the big day, all farmers have a clear idea of ​​the quality and maturity of their corn. But the date set for the forage harvester is difficult to change.

Waterlogged corn is less nutritious

For example, Nicolas stopped on Monday October 25 but that day he fell seriously. So “we moved back to Tuesday, which was a good day, so to speak. The weather was nice, which means it didn't rain! “.

Yet in Bonnefoi, they get bogged downthe tractor and trailer struggle with the earth that is too heavy and waterlogged.

If corn is waterlogged, it is less nutritious. Because the water seeps into the plant and it comes out of the silo once we have placed the harvest in the silo despite all the care we take to look after it.

Control of dry matter

Because the basis is to pay close attention to the level of dry and wet matter in the corn.

There are approximately 70% humidity for 30% dry matter but in bad years, humidity tends to take its toll.

Moreover, last year the harvest counted 16 to 18 tonnes of dry matter per hectare while this year the figures are only around 12 to 15 tonnes.

Which makes a big difference. Especially since corn doesn't last forever.

Three hectares per hour

During harvest, the forage harvester swallows 3 ha of corn per hour.

She cuts the corn to the desired length.

Daniel and Nicolas opt for ends of 13 to 15 millimeters.

The finer the corn is cut, the more easily cows digest it. But it doesn't have to be mush either. And the more ripe the plant, the easier it is to cut thinly.

Nicolas has a 14 ha area which requires 8 trailers.

Once the trailers are full, they are dumped into the farm's silos.

Corn packed to evacuate air

“Distributed in layers, they are constantly, continually packed to evacuate air as much as possible. It doesn’t stop.”

Nicolas takes care of the settling which takes him a day and a half.

He doesn't say it's difficult or tiring, no, he says “I like it” with a bright smile.

Once the work is accomplished, a protective net and a tarpaulin protect the forage plant.

Five 42-meter silos

The family now owns five 42 m long silos.

“We haven’t finished last year’s yet. he should run until Christmas” but next year he could run out.

Their cows eat a mixture of corn, haylage, and a concentrate of wheat flour, rapeseed meal and soybeans every morning.

Beet pulp or beetroot in caps

To compensate for the foreseeable lack of corn, Daniel and Antoine are already considering buying beet pulp or dried beet in caps, “a very palatable formula which contains 80% dry matter”.

An emergency solution that must be taken very quickly, especially since there is a shortage of overpressed beet, now regularly used to feed the region's methane digesters.

Clearly, 2024 has not been a good year for farmers.

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