November 11, 2004

Earlage Offers Corn Producers an Option

Harvesting corn as earlage may be a way for producers to salvage part of their crop this year, according to Greg Lardy, a North Dakota State University Extension Service beef specialist.

Poor growing conditions kept the corn crop from reaching maturity in many parts of North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota.

“When properly harvested, earlage is a high quality, energy-dense feed,” Lardy said.

Earlage, which is ensiled corn grain, cobs, and in some cases husks, is higher in energy than corn silage with similar protein content. It’s lower in energy than corn grain because it includes the husk and cob, but it works well in a variety of cattle diets, including growing and finishing diets for beef cattle and feed for lactating dairy cows, he said.

Producers who want to make good quality earlage should follow two guidelines:

• Make sure the crop’s moisture content is correct before chopping. Lardy said 60 percent to 65 percent dry matter, with 35 percent to 40 percent moisture, is best.
• Exclude oxygen. As with any silage, if the material isn’t packed properly and sealed, oxygen will penetrate, which will result in excess spoilage and poor quality fermentation. Be sure to cover the earlage pile with plastic to prevent oxygen penetration.

Excess seepage is possible if moisture levels are too high, which will result in poor quality fermentation and nutrient loss, Lardy said. Earlage that’s too dry is difficult to pack, which will lead to excessive spoilage.

Most major forage harvesting equipment manufacturers offer special heads for earlage. The key is using a header that takes the ear (cob, grain and husk), he said. Many custom forage chopping operations have access to the equipment to produce good earlage.

Producers also have reported using conventional combines to produce earlage by setting the machines to break up the cob and return it to the grain tank. Producers may need to make some adjustments to the unloading auger so the bulkier material can unload from the hopper, Lardy said.

For more information, visit the NDSU Extension Service Web site on coping with late-maturing and frost-damaged crops at www.ag.ndsu.edu/coping/frost/ or contact Lardy at (701) 231-7660, glardy@ndsuext.nodak.edu.

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Source: Greg Lardy, (701) 231-7660, glardy@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Ellen Crawford, (701) 231-5391, ecrawfor@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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