Posted by paul on August 23, 2012 at 20:18:48 from (66.44.133.112):
In Reply to: Just curious....... posted by JerryS on August 23, 2012 at 19:13:12:
Some corn types are considered silage types, they get a bit bushier and wouldn't harvest good for just corn yield.
But typically it's just field corn. One often plans which will be the silage field before planting, but that can change as the year moves along. Often the silage field is planted later, or behind a hay crop or some such, and the corn wouldn't mature into regular corn.
But, generally, it's just field corn.
When you harvest it about now, it gets chopped into short bits, like a leaf/wood chipper works, and the green stalk and leaves and chopped soft cob/kernals are full of nutrition, starch, and energy.
When packed in a silo and sealed from air, the microbes fermenting on it produce sort-of pickle juice and that keeps the silage fresh. It's typically 50-70% moisture to make it work up right. If oxygen is allowed into the silage, the wrong microbes develop and it creates a smelly, toxic, moldy mess.
Often the bottom part of the stalk is cut kinda high. The rest of the stalk, all the leaves, the husks, the cob, and the corn itself makes an almost balanced feed just what cattle and dairy esp need. It's a lot softer and green than you think, not an old dried up stalk.
Alfalfa, in my area being cut 4 times a year, and only planted once every 5 years or so, is probably a bit more efficient. What hurts silage a bit is the high moisture content - costs a lot to haul all that water around.
Good questions! I see others have good replies, I'm probably just repeating them...
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