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Show Grow More Silage Corn, Expert Says As Utah dairy herds and beef feeding operations oper-ations increase in size, more feed is needed; but where do we turn for more feed? Dr. DeVere R. McAllister, Kx tension ten-sion agronomist, and other plant and animal scientists at Utah State University say, "Grow more corn for silage." Where growing condi-1 lions are favorable, hybrid hy-brid corn can yield more feed than any other crop in the State. In some places, up to 30 tons per acre can be obtained,-providing obtained,-providing necessary practices are carefully adhered to. These include: in-clude: care in seed selection, se-lection, planting, weed control, fertilization, proper and adequate irrigation, ir-rigation, insect control and harvesting at proper maturity. Teams of university uni-versity specialists explained ex-plained these at corn schools held throughout the State. Dr. McAllister pointed point-ed out that if rather ma ture corn is produced as silage, the following yields of TON (total di-gestable di-gestable nutrients) can be grown per acre as compared to other feed crops. CROP YIKLD-ACRK TDN Silage 16 tons 5,760 , 26 tons 6,460 1 30 tons 10,800 Wheat 100 Bu. 4,800 Barley HJ0 Bu. 3,744 Alfalfa 3 tons 3,000 5 tons 5,000 8 tons 8,000 Choosing the proper hybrid is particularly important. Choose one that will mature to the hard dent stage during the growing season for the particular locality. You are more interested in the total dry weight than in total weight. It is more important to have 25 tons of 50 per cent moisture than 30 tons with 70 per cent moisture. Corn with 50 per cent dry matter can bp en- r r ijrwj,-. .... Ill ' d , -. -v Y , ' ' Hv- 1 ' , s' ' i-h-A, W- ; 7, - ; ' r- 'Tv : v'-7'v-.-: ' TJ" Growing corn for silage to meet increasing need for feed is gaining greater interest. These growers pay careful attention to growing and harvesting to get the most from their acres. siled by chopping finely and packing extra well. Therefore, if frost occurs oc-curs before the crop is mature, let it stand in the field to dry some before harvest. But if the corn matures, it is preferable to harvest it before frost. The specialists point out that silage preservatives preser-vatives are not needed and often present an unnecessary un-necessary added expense. ex-pense. However, ten pounds per ton of feed urea can be added to silage as it goes into the pit to aid in protein pro-tein synthesis in the animals' stomachs. The follow ing cultural practices were recommended: recom-mended: Planting--Plant when the upper 3 to 4 inches of soil reaches 50 degrees. de-grees. Plant about 30.-000 30.-000 plants per acre by using the recommended planting wheel for the type and size of seed planted. Weed Control --This is very important as corn is a poor competitor competi-tor when young. Atra-zine Atra-zine can be used if corn is to be planted two or more years on the same field. It controls annual broadleaf and grassy weeds as well as quack-grass. quack-grass. Lasso and Bland-ex Bland-ex has been successful under some conditions on grassy weeds and doesn't leave a residue for the next crop. For control of small broad-leaf broad-leaf weeds, 2-4D, . or Banvel can be used. Fertilization --Co r n ' can utilize a heavy application ap-plication of nitrogen fertilizer. If the proper irrigation practices are followed, as high as 600 pounds of available nitrogen ni-trogen per acre can be used. Barnyard manure may be used where available and this contains con-tains about 10 pounds of nitrogen per ton. Test the soil for phosphate needs and add according to the recommendations. recommenda-tions. If the low er leaves turn dry before the season sea-son ends, more nitrogen fertilizer mav be needed. need-ed. Irrigation Never let the plant w ilt or become dark green in color. The production is lowered and doesn't fully recover re-cover from such stress. Insect Control --Expect that the corn root-worm root-worm will affect silage and canning corn in a number of counties this year. Chemicals and equipment for control are available at feed and seed houses throughout the State. Band treatment at planting plant-ing time is most effective. effect-ive. Spider mite control may also be necessary. Further information on growing corn for silage, si-lage, as well as recommendations recom-mendations for corn rootworm and other corn insect control, can be obtained from the local county extension offices. Also, information informa-tion is available on al- falfa weed control, varieties va-rieties of alfalfa, and grain for spring seeding. |
