Forage insight: corn silage quality reflects growing environment

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Publish time: 30th December, 2014      Source: USA
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Forage insight: corn silage quality reflects growing environmentForage insight: corn silage quality reflects growing environment" title="Share this link on Facebook">USADecember 30, 2014When making decisions regarding which corn genetics to plant for silage or managing the inclusion of corn silage from various growing environments into dairy or beef diets, it is important to understand the natural variation in corn silage quality independent of hybrid genetics.It is understood that droughty and cool growing conditions can enhance fiber digestibility; however, many other environmental factors are likely at play. Pioneer research findings support this:Although the magnitude of environmental effect can vary modestly from one corn hybrid to the next, the directional responses tend to be consistent regardless of the genetics observed, especially the nutritional quality characteristics of percent starch and fiber digestibility.The same corn genetics often perform differently from one year to the next, even when grown in the same location under similar management practices.Micro-growing environment variation, even within a field that seems relatively uniform, can produce dramatic differences in quality. Modest variations in soil type, drainage, compaction, fertility and other factors can significantly impact silage characteristics.Combining the environmental variation of location, management, planting date, fertility and growing season results in significant variance in yield and quality performance within a single corn hybrid.Also consider that whole plant dry matter at harvest impacts quality, especially starch content. For each point of percent dry matter increase with maturity, percent starch tends to increase one-half to one percentage point.To learn more about these and other corn silage management practices, visit theSilage Zone.- See more at: http://www.cnchemicals.com/ news from: DuPont PioneerWebsite: http://www.cnchemicals.com/: December 30, 2014The news item on this page is copyright by the organization where it originatedFair use notice