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September 13, 2004 High Moisture Corn Works as Livestock Feed Many North Dakota corn producers are having difficulty harvesting mature corn this fall due to poor summer growing conditions. High moisture corn can be harvested and stored for livestock feed, according to Greg Lardy, North Dakota State University beef cattle specialist. For corn to be used in this manner, it should be harvested at 24 percent to 33 percent moisture for optimum storage. Lardy says that high moisture corn is similar in energy and protein content to dry corn and offers several harvest advantages:
High moisture corn also has disadvantages compared to dry corn:
“High moisture corn tends to ferment faster and require better bunk management compared to dry corn,” Lardy says. “It must be stored in an airtight silo (bunker, silage bag or oxygen-limiting structure). For optimum storage and utilization, it should be processed (ground or rolled) prior to storage. Grinding or rolling and subsequent packing facilitates oxygen exclusion in the silo.” If corn was planted late or damaged by early frost, producers may have to harvest before maturity. “The nutrient content of immature corn can be considerably different than mature corn,” Lardy says. “It may be harvested wet and stored in a silo structure as earlage.” For more information about nutritional differences at different maturity levels and with certain harvest, storage and processing methods, visit this Web site: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/coping/frost/highmoisturecorn.htm. ### Source:
Greg Lardy, (701) 231-7660, glardy@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
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North Dakota State University |
