This maize is just up the road and will soon be harvested. In NZ, usually the whole plant is harvested, chopped up, and made into silage. It is piled into big stacks, then covered with black polythene. The cattle love it later in winter when the grass has stopped growing.
When I lived in Pennsylvania ten years ago, the dairy farmer who lived next door did that too. He told me that it was much more cost-effective than just harvesting the grain from the ears--and his cows, at least, like the silage much better than plain grain. In the winter, the trench silos will steam in the cold air and look really interesting.
