{"id":3367,"date":"2019-09-05T13:15:53","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T17:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/outcropn\/?p=3367"},"modified":"2019-09-05T13:15:58","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T17:15:58","slug":"dealing-with-immature-corn-silage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/outcropn\/2019\/09\/05\/dealing-with-immature-corn-silage\/","title":{"rendered":"Dealing with Immature Corn Silage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dealing with Immature Corn Silage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corn planting was delayed due to a wet spring and growth was\nseverely slowed by cool temperatures during the early summer months. It is\nlikely that many corn fields will not make the proper stage for corn silage and\nunderstanding how to handle immature corn silage will be critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvest Timing and\nFrosted Corn <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timely harvest of corn silage is one of the most critical\nfactors affecting forage quality. To ensure maximum yields of dry matter,\nnutrients per acre, palatability, intake, and minimize storage losses, corn\nshould be harvested at 35-30% dry matter. Immature corn silage due to late\nplanting will be at increased risk for frost damage, which occurs when\ntemperatures stay below 32\u00b0F for a few hours or 28\u00b0F for several minutes. The\nstalk and grain are less susceptible to frost damage as the thicker tissue\nretains more heat than the leaves, which are the most susceptible to damage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a frost, immature corn will most likely be too low in\ndry matter content for direct chopping. \nIf possible harvesting should be delayed until the plant is above 30%\ndry matter. Harvesting the plant at low dry matter content will alter\nfermentation, increase silage runoff, and could potentially decrease feed\nintake. To avoid seepage losses and risk of an undesirable fermentation, it\nwill be necessary to allow the immature crop to stand in the field for several\ndays following a frost to dry down. After a frost, moisture content is harder\nto determine. Frost damage turns leaves brown and creates an illusion of rapid\ndry down, but the plant will have a lower dry matter content than it appears\nto, as higher moisture content remains in the stalk and ear. Even experienced\nfarmers who can easily estimate the moisture content for a normal corn crop\nmight underestimate the moisture of immature corn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember frozen immature corn will not dry down any faster\nthan unfrozen corn.  The only sure method\nto determine dry matter is to chop a small amount of and obtain a moisture\ndetermination (microwave method or Koster Tester) to know when the crop is\nnearing the desired 35-30% dry matter. \nAs a rule of thumb, whole plant moisture normally decreases by 0.5% per\nday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storage <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plant material of 30% or slightly higher dry matter can be\nmore effectively stored in a horizontal bunker or stack without excessive\nseepage losses than in an upright silo structure. Packing, covering, and\nparticle size guidelines used in harvesting normal corn silage should be\nfollowed for immature corn silage.  If\npossible, store immature corn separately from high quality corn silage. Very\nimmature corn silage should be fed to animals with lower nutrient requirements.\nUnder the best of conditions, inoculants are generally not necessary for corn\nsilage, however, this may be a year to consider their use. For more information\non the use of inoculants, see \u201cInoculants for Haylage and Corn Silage\u201d at: http:\/\/pss.uvm.edu\/vtcrops\/?Page=articles\/haylage.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feed Quality<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immature corn at the dough state will yield 65-85% of normal\nsilage yield, and slightly immature frost damaged corn that has dented can\nstill produce good quality silage. The table below shows that while yields are\ndecreased, overall energy content can be similar to mature silage. However,\nstarch levels are likely to be lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Immature corn will also be higher in protein than those of a\nfully matured crop.  It is not\nrecommended to add non-protein nitrogen (NPN) sources if the plants did not\nreach milk stage because seepage can concentrate NPN in the lower portion of\nthe storage unit. After a frost, if the leaf material is dead but the stalk and\nroots remain alive, there is a chance nitrates will accumulate in the lower\nstalk. Increasing the cutting height will lower dry matter but increase silage\nquality since the lower stalk has the lowest digestibility and highest nitrate\nlevels. Field losses will increase with time so producers need to balance\nharvest losses against fermentation loss and quality problems associated with\nwet silage.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be important to test forage made from immature corn\nas there will be a large variation from the nutrient content that might be\nexpected.  If you are going to feed a\nsignificant amount of immature silage to lactating cows, it will be worthwhile\nto obtain a fermentation analysis that includes silage pH, ammonia, titratable\nacidity, lactic, acetic, proprionic, butyric and isobutyric acids. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you will be selling silage, the following resource has\ninformation regarding negotiating the value of immature corn silage: http:\/\/corn.agronomy.wisc.edu\/WCM\/W158.aspx<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More information on managing immature silage can be found in\nthe following resources: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInoculants for Haylage and Corn Silage\u201d by Heather Darby\nand Sid Bosworth, UVM Extension. http:\/\/pss.uvm.edu\/vtcrops\/?Page=articles\/haylage.html<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConsiderations for Working with Immature Corn Silage\u201d by\nCornell University Cooperative Extension. http:\/\/www.thatscooperativeextension.org\/documents\/ag\/ImmatureCornSilage.pdf<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cManaging Immature and Frosted Corn Silage\u201d by Heather Darby\nand Sid Bosworth, UVM Extension. https:\/\/pss.uvm.edu\/vtcrops\/articles\/ChoppingImatureCorn.html<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNegotiating the Value of Immature Corn Silage\u201d by Joe Lauer,\nUniversity of Wisconsin. http:\/\/corn.agronomy.wisc.edu\/WCM\/W158.aspx<\/a>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dealing with Immature Corn Silage Corn planting was delayed due to a wet spring and growth was severely slowed by cool temperatures during the early summer months. It is likely that many corn fields will not make the proper stage for corn silage and understanding how to handle immature corn silage will be critical. Harvest … <\/p>\n

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