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One of the opportunities for cattle producers in farm
country is to utilize failed crops as harvested feed or seasonal grazing.
While corn acres in the state have been increasing there is a concern, this
year particularly, in northern regions that frost might beat a harvestable
grain crop to the finish line.
Cutting and silageing corn froze before maturity is a
good option. Immature corn silage has very good feed value however its
energy content will be less than corn with good cob development and grain
fill. Making silage from frosted corn requires close monitoring of moisture
content to insure leaf material is not lost and it is harvested at an
optimum moisture for packing and ensiling.
Where chopping equipment isn’t available or the
distance for hauling is excessive there may be interest in trying to bale up
damaged corn for feed. If the corn isn’t too tall it can probably be
windowed and many of todays balers will pick it up and roll it into bales.
However, it is unlikely late cut corn would ever dry to acceptable moisture
for storage in a bale and be prone to considerable spoilage and rot. On a
limited basis some corn left late to dry as much as possible, and baled
under cold temps, could be utilized if fed up relatively soon. Better
options would be wrap the bales with plastic to make baleage or pile as
silage in the field and haul to cattle as needed and fed.
Although some field waste and loss is likely, a
reasonably good option is late season grazing. The trampling loss is
partially offset by less harvest expense. This of course requires temporary
fencing, a source of water, and some wind protection against early winter
storm. Corn grazing trials have produced from 100 to 200 cow grazing days
per acre dependent on snow cover, field moisture, and crop yield. Producers
which have grazed late season corn have found trampling loss can be
minimized if fields are split into a couple week allotments and, if snow
becomes excessive fields can be cleaned off in the spring. Health and
digestive risks exist relating to nitrate poisoning and grain overload but
have not been major concerns.
A significant issue in using frosted corn for cattle
forage is that many corn acres are on operations without cattle or in areas
where hay and feed supplies are plentiful. High bulk and moisture corn needs
to be fed where or close to where it is produced. This presents an
opportunity for cattle producers and corn farmers to build relationships as
well as producers from feed short to feed surplus regions to arrange for
cattle movement and care.
For many corn producers plan A is to combine, dry,
store, and sell cash corn grain. However, late planting and cool
temperatures, should have farmers and ranchers anticipating a plan B which
may include harvesting silage, late season grazing, or feeding cattle.
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