To hit peak profit, consider your input costs and try reducing the unnecessary while allocating funds in areas that show a return or reduce risk, like soil testing and crop insurance.
Concerned about your stored corn silage? Nutrition expert John Goeser shares what he’s seeing in the lab and what you can expect from a silage quality and digestibility perspective.
The secret to keeping silage shrink in check is good forage management from harvest to feed-out. Check out these six tips to help manage dry matter loss.
Mastering corn silage harvest is an ongoing challenge. Many things must go right – the weather, plant development and harvest timing. Learning the details of silage making can be the difference in a quality crop.
The time to plan for next year’s silage success is now. One of the best ways to create more, and higher-quality, feedstuffs is to do a critical review of this year’s silage.
Want a peek into the 2019 silage season? Have a look at the weather forecast going into spring, current supply availability and corn silage price expectations for the season.
Ensiling lets livestock producers offer nutrient-rich forage in rations year-round. Knowing what happens after the silo is ensiled can help avoid pitfalls that reduce the quantity or quality of forage.
Corn hybrid selection is critical to your silage production. Be sure to evaluate several hybrids on-farm every year to ensure you are growing the best hybrids for your operation.
It really all depends on local conditions, the crops, stage of maturity, stress events, damage events and the like. Yeasts and molds are common on plants.
It’s time to start planning for the next silage season. Daren Redfearn challenges producers to take a fresh look at all their forage options this year.
Heating is a natural result of the fermentation process that occurs during ensiling. Learn how to avoid valuable dry matter and nutrient loss when significant heating occurs.
There are many options to consider when it comes to “how” to harvest corn silage. Learn about all your options and why they may meet your operation’s needs.
Every individual bale of hay is a mini fermentation unit. It's important to manage each like a silage unit - maintaining good, even fermentation from bale to bale. This provides better overall quality and consistency.
Not only tracking corn silage losses but also taking action to further reduce them is important to this Nebraska feedyard. Learn how one producer is minimizing silage shrink and how he uses silage in the ration.
Weather and supply often drive silage harvesting decisions, so it’s wise to be aware of all your options as you start thinking about next year’s corn silage needs.
As silage is opened and fed, it is once again exposed to air. Oxygen allows aerobic organisms that survived the ensiling process — such as bacilli, molds and especially yeasts — to grow.
Rain during harvest and filling can be exasperating, especially after you’ve probably spent time carefully determining your forage’s moisture content. Here’s how weather events can affect both quality and yield.
Inoculants contain live, viable bacteria and need to be handled carefully, though not much different than how you treat vaccines for your livestock herd. You want to keep heat, moisture and oxygen away from inoculants.
Timing is everything when it comes to silage harvest, so monitoring plant dry matter becomes critical. Learn how to best hit the sweet spot for your harvest and reduce shrink during the season.
Cropping manager Dave LaCrosse shares tips for growing and harvesting silage, along with challenges he faces every year. Learn a few tricks to making the perfect silage pile.
Many producers utilize custom harvesters to bring in their forages for ensiling. We’ve got tips on building a strong relationship with a custom harvester in order to secure high-quality feedstuffs.
Ever pull back the plastic and know immediately just by the smell that greets you that something has gone terribly wrong with your silage fermentation? We’ll examine what that smell means and what may have happened.
When forage isn’t efficiently packed, plant respiration is extended, which increases heat production and nutrient loss. Learn why dry matter loss is affected by packing density.
What quality of alfalfa and corn silage are the current conditions expected to yield? Forage expert, Dr. John Goeser with Rock River Laboratory, shares what he’s seeing in alfalfa and what he expects for corn.
There are many types of microbes that naturally occur on forage crops in the field. Their populations vary with the weather during the growing season, crop management practices and the plant’s stage of maturity.
A good quality inoculant contains specially-selected dried, but viable, microbes. A little care in how the product is handled can help ensure it works effectively once added to your forage.
Is the bunker or silo ready? It’s never too early to start preparing for corn silage harvest. Corn moisture, particle size, packing density … don’t miss this refresher of harvest considerations from Penn State.
Uniform distribution of inoculants is a critical factor in their effectiveness. The bacteria in inoculants grow where they land on the forage, so it’s important to apply the product evenly across the crop.
Are you planting your alfalfa at the correct time of year? Plan now to seed alfalfa, clover and other grasses in August to allow the plant to develop a root system capable of surviving winter.
Some heating is to be expected as a result of fermentation processes that occur during ensiling. However, if too much oxygen remains, aerobic microorganisms grow, which can cause heating and DM and nutrients losses.
Silage harvest needs to be fast, but not so fast that you don’t take a few minutes to check kernel processor accuracy. Dr. Brian Luck has created an in-field kernel assessment that’s as easy as taking a picture.
Worried the first-cut alfalfa tonnage just won’t be enough? There are times when planting corn for silage right after the first cut is harvested can save the day. Learn if it’s the right option for you.
Alfalfa contains sugars that start to degrade after mowing, and sugars are needed to drive the ensiling fermentation. The key to high-quality hay silage is to wilt the crop to the proper DM level as quickly as possible.
Silage expert Limin Kung Jr explains the three types of inoculants and how to pick the right one. He also shares important tips to manage the mixing and application process because it’s true the devil is in the details
Green-up is a sure sign that spring is here to stay which also means it’s time to check for winter injury to alfalfa and other crops. Learn the two biggest sources of damage to watch for and what to do if you find them
About half of your total yield comes from the first cut of alfalfa. We’ve got tips on when to cut, what to watch for in the plant, and what more and more producers are doing to get their forage out of the field quicker
Using the right amount of bacteria can drive rapid and efficient ensiling fermentation. These “fermentation aids” speed the pH drop and are applied at a minimum of 100,000 CFUs per gram of forage. But what is a CFU?
Different silage inoculants achieve different results – make sure your inoculant is the best choice to achieve the end goal your crop requires. We have a quick review of both types.
