Key Points
- Gross margins for the crops (grain legumes, vegetables and forages) were compared with maize silage and grain.
- Viable alternative crops for the Waikato include lucerne, short rotation ryegrass and perhaps fresh market sweetcorn if quality standards can be met.
- Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne have a well established vegetable industry. Alternative crops here include squash, fresh or process sweetcorn (the latter can be double cropped with peas) and lucerne.
- Vegetable crops will require more intensive management than maize.
- Short duration crops (squash, sweetcorn, grain legumes and maize silage) allow winter grass to be grown for profitable winter grazing.
- Maize (grain and silage) yields tended to be lower when preceded by a summer crop of annual ryegrass or maize and highest when preceded by lucerne.