Harvest Tips: Getting the most out of your corn silage
• Keep a close eye on corn maturity once it has dented. Corn can rapidly mature or dry down due to the weather and moisture conditions. This year is not the exception as we are facing considerable dry conditions.
• The kernel milk line is the best estimate of whole plant moisture for harvest. The kernel milk line is the dividing line between sugars in the maturing kernel and starch. In South Dakota most producers will use the 1/3 milk line as a benchmark to start checking whole plant moisture and decide whether it's the right time to harvest. If a producer harvests corn silage at 30% dry matter (DM), this will result in lower starch concentration in the silage. Mature corn silage with more than 30% DM could also imply less nutritional value because of lower fiber and starch digestibility.
• If corn to harvest is still immature, allow the crop to mature to increase DM yield per acre.
• Adding a research-proven bacterial inoculant to corn silage can reduce dry matter losses and increase digestibility.