CORN SILAGE HYBRID SELECTION Paul Craig Capital Region Extension Agronomy Team Dauphin County Cooperative Extension Selecting which corn hy brids to plant for corn silage production is one of the most important management deci sions affecting the economics of corn silage production. Al though many silage produc ers simply plant many high grain yielding corn hybrids and then select fields to meet their silage needs at harvest time, more dairy producers and their nutritionists are basing silage variety selection on the nutritional needs of their herds. Corn hybrids are typically referred to as grain type, silage type, or dual purpose. Silage types are generally se lected for high forage yields, high digestibility, low fiber levels, and high stover diges tibility. The best silage types have high grain yields with a grain starch content that is also highly digestible. When making silage hybrid selec tion, start by grouping hy brids that are adapted to your area in terms of maturity, disease and insect resistance, drought tolerance, and other agronomic characteristics. Next, discuss with your nutri tionist what your forage needs are. Then ask your seed dealers to explain to you which of their hybrids should be selected for your silage Step-A-Matt layer Cage System ♦Rugged A-Frame construction ♦Proven Multi-Deck features ♦ Built-in step rail ♦ Solid galvanized partitions ♦Plastic coated cage floors Capitol Region gronomy Team production. Dr. Michael Allen, Michi gan State University, has been investigating corn hy brids for silage production for many years. He believes that although many producers use grain yield as the basis for se lecting a corn silage variety, this is not a good selection criteria. Grain yield, Allen has found, is not related to forage quality and is not highly related to forage yield either. Allen has found that although many excellent “dual purpose” corn hybrids exist, certain characteristics that make an excellent grain hybrid such as fast kernel drying and hard kernel tex ture are undesirable for silage production because they reduce the digestibility of starch in the grain. Hard dry kernels resist digestion and reduce the energy content of the silage crop. Therefore se rious consideration should be made to select hybrids for grain and silage separately. Forage quality is a complex term. If two corn silages are compared on the same farm, they might differ in moisture content, fermentation, stabil ity, particle size, fiber con tent, grain hardiness, fiber digestibility, and protein con tent. Many of these factors are dependent on manage ment or environmental con ditions and not related to genetics of the hybrid. Mois ture content at harvest affects fermentation, which affects digestibility and feed value. ♦ Heavy duty manure deflector ♦ Stress-free cage ♦Egg Saver System ♦ Stainless steel nipple drinker ♦ V Link feeding system Particle size also affects fer mentation quality and feed ing quality. The preferred way to determine the value of a forage crop is to value the nu tritional components in the forage based on the market prices of other feeds. Specifi cally, corn silage can be based on the price of corn, soybean meal, and legume hay. Dif ferences in forage value cal culated in this way reflect additional amounts of grain and digestibility required to equate quality differences of the forages. Your nutritionist should be able to help you value your corn silage. In many ways, the trade off of tonnage for higher quality may be acceptable if the quality factors affect animal performance. Ani mals fed high forage diets should benefit most from hy brids with low NDF and high NDF digestibility. High producing animals consum ing higher amounts of grain, such as lactating dairy cows, should benefit most from hy brids with higher NDF diges tibility. All hybrids for silage should have high starch di gestibility. Until better lab analysis is available for more valid comparison, select corn hybrids for silage production with soft texture and slow kernel drying relative to stover dry down. As the 2000 planting season approaches, only eight weeks from now, silage growers should reflect on Introducing the proven features of Farmer Automatic’s non-stress cage environment in a new A-frame design. w Automatic OF AMERICA, INC. PO Box 39 • Rtfattr, GA 30«2 - 912 681 2763 • FAX 912681 1096 Contact Sheldon Goodine • Regional Manager • 1.800.685,2634 Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 4, 2000-Page management decisions for optimum silage production. Genetics is only one piece of the production process. Other management practices such as date of planting, popula tions, fertility, and pest con trol will also affect yield and quality factors. Feeding quality silage in November begins with plan- Committee Appointed For NCGA CEO Search The NCGA Corn Board has appointed a search com mittee to find a candidate to replace Chris Wehrman as executive vice president and CEO after her departure from NCGA. On Feb. 4, Wehrman an nounced her planned depar ture before Sept. 30. Committee members are Lynn Jensen (chair), Lake Preston, S.D. NCGA presi dent; Lee Klein, Battle Creek, Neb, NCGA president-elect; Roger Pine, Lawrence, Kan., chairman of the board; Bill Northey, Spirit Lake, lowa, past president; Leon Corzine, Assumption, 111, Illinois Corn Growers Association presi dent; Waren Formo, Granite Falls, Minn., Minnesota Corn Growers Association treas urer; Brent Porteus, Coshoc ton, Ohio, Ohio Corn Marketing Program treas urer; Craig Floss (ex officio/non-voting member), Des Moines, lowa, lowa Corn Growers Association/lowa Corn Promotion Board CEO; and Neil Strong (ex officio/non-voting member), Downers Grove, 111., Novartis ning in February. Review with your agronomy service provider or county agent or refer to the 2000 Penn State Agronomy Guide for the latest recommendations for corn silage production. Don’t allow your potential for high quality feed this fall to begin the growing season with less than optimum pro duction potential. ORN BITS Crop Protection, Inc. direc tor, agricultural relations. Upon Wehrman’s an nouncement, Jensen said the Corn Board appreciates the ample notice Wehrman gave of her future intentions. He noted that Wehrman will remain in the position with full authority and accounta bility for the staff manage ment of the organization until her departure. Jensen said that since join ing NCGA in October 1994, Wehrman’s leadership has broadened the scope and breadth of NCGA accom plishments on issues and pro grams addressed on behalf of member states and corn growers. In this period, through corn grower initia tives and her staff leadership, NCGA has reorganized the association structure and in tegrated NCGA presence throughout the corn and agri cultural industries. “Chris has contributed im mensely to the livelihood and future of corn growers and agricultural interests, and we thank her for her dedicated service,” Jensen said. 169
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