Wisconsin Crop Manager newsletter

Author:	WCM Staff	Created:	4/21/2006 11:12 AM
Corn and more

Fall and Spring Forage Yield and Quality from Fall-Seeded Cereal Crops

By WCM Staff on 9/3/2003 7:00 PM

Cereal crops such as oats, barley, triticale, wheat, and rye may be a source of emergency fall forage and/or a source of forage the following spring. The choice of which specie to plant depends on the importance or need for forage in the fall as opposed to forage in the spring.

Planting Corn For Silage Following Winter-Killed Alfalfa

By WCM Staff on 4/23/2003 9:00 PM

The following is a summary of planting date trials conducted at Arlington, WI. The objective of these trials is to measure the impact of planting date on corn forage yield and quality.

Follow-up On Harvesting Corn Silage From Highly Erodible Land

By WCM Staff on 6/12/2002 10:00 PM

In the 25 April 2002 issue of the Wisconsin Crop Manager, I suggested one way to make T requirements is to raise the cutter bar on the corn silage chopper. This strategy lowers silage yield, but a trade-off exists whereby silage quality is increased.

Managing Corn Silage on Highly Erodible Land

By WCM Staff on 4/24/2002 7:00 PM

By correlating studies that estimate percent ground cover from corn residue mass with cutting height studies conducted in Wisconsin we might be able to derive some general guidelines for managing corn silage on highly erodible land.

Uneven Maturity at Corn Harvest – Handling Silage and Grain

By WCM Staff on 9/5/2001 10:00 PM

The corn production season of 2001 has been extremely "variable." This year’s variability is more within fields than between fields and the harvest season will present some special handling problems.

Alfalfa Management Under Moisture Stress

By WCM Staff on 7/18/2001 10:00 PM

Moisture swings during growing season 2001 have been significant to say the least. Although the current round of dry weather may not rival the memorable droughts of prior years, it is raising management concerns.

Milk2000: A New Way to Estimate Corn Hybrid Silage Performance

By WCM Staff on 12/13/2000 11:00 PM

Because the cows maintenance energy requirements were partitioned against the total diet in MILK2000 rather than against only corn silage as was done in MILK95, there was a base increase in our new estimate of milk per ton which was of equal value across all samples that did not influence ranking of hybrids.

Predicting Corn Silage Harvest Dates

By WCM Staff on 8/23/2000 6:00 PM

One of the more difficult managment decisions when producing corn silage is properly timing harvest. Corn silage that is too wet will yield less, result in silo seepage and produce a sour tasting silage resulting in lower intake by livestock. If corn silage is too dry then yield is often reduced, heat damage and mold more easily develops in the silo because fermentation is inadequate, and the silage has lower protein, digestibility and the vitamins A and E.

Calculating Grain and Silage Yields for Loan Deficiency Payments

By WCM Staff on 10/13/1999 10:00 PM

Much progress has been made in breeding adapted high yielding hybrids that are more resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses. Does the old relationship between grain and silage yield still hold?

How Late Should Corn Be Planted For Silage Production?

By WCM Staff on 5/27/1999 1:01 PM

The optimum date for planting corn for grain is between May 1 and May 7 in Wisconsin. In many years, farmers are still wanting to plant corn after June 1. Later planting dates mean lower grain yields and higher grain moistures. At some date the best use of corn becomes either as high moisture corn or corn silage.

What Can We Learn From the Corn Forage Drydown During 1998?

By WCM Staff on 3/2/1999 11:00 PM

Before 1998 becomes too foggy in our memory, what lessons can we learn from the corn forage drydown during September 1998?

Corn Silage Response to Planting Date

By WCM Staff on 6/17/1998 9:00 PM

The standard recommendation for late planting corn grown for grain is that it should not be planted after June 5 in northern WI and June 10 in southern WI. But how late should we plant corn intended for silage use?