Getting Corn Silage Harvest Right

Corn silage harvest is here! This is an important moment that we will feel the effects of for the next year so we want to make sure we hit pour mark. Here are just a few of the things we can do to set ourselves up for success:

• Ideal moisture: your target moisture might be different than mine but neither are wrong. Picking the correct moisture is a balance of making sure we have enough to get it packed, but drying the silage down as long as we can to capture more starch. Normally, we aim for 1/2 to 3/4 milkline in healthy plants to balance these two metrics. This year however, areas that have been hit by severe drought will have abnormal drydown meaning we can't rely solely on milkline progression.

Milkline progression is a important metric to stage harvest timing in silage. This cob is 1/4 to 1/2.

• Chop height: In years with above average rainfall, we can influence our % starch and potentially our NDFD by increasing the cutter bar when we are harvesting. In years of limited moisture, it does not make sense to do this because Mother Nature has done this for us by decreasing plant height and reducing lignin accumulation. Drought years also lead to lower tonnage per acre, meaning we should capture as much yield as we can. In Lanark we'd say "keep it just above the rock!"

• Pack it tight: manage the tractor weight, the rate of delivery and make sure that all of the oxygen is eliminated from the storage to make sure we can preserve this crop and keep it stable. Tower silos consistently achieve good density when moisture is correct, whereas as the University of Wisconsin found that a lower delivery rate was positively correlated with an increased bunk density. Good density not only increases the quality of initial fermentation but also reduces the risk of spoilage on feedout.

A second set of eyes can help make sure we're checking all the boxes that lay the foundation for a year's worth of high quality corn silage. If you want to book a silage audit, connect with us today and eliminate any gaps in your forage program.