Nutrition

General

Corn

  • Guidelines on Buying High Moisture Shelled Corn - Cash crop farms will be looking to those farms in need of corn as a way to market some of their crop. The question then becomes how to set a fair price for high moisture shelled corn (HMSC).
  • Feeding Corn Screenings to Cattle - The late maturing corn crop coupled with a wet Fall has led to challenging harvest conditions. It is likely corn will contain higher moisture levels at harvest than normal. This will require more expense to dry the crop and create more corn screenings (grain dust). The corn screenings can be fed to livestock if the mycotoxin levels are not too high.
  • Guidelines for Pricing Corn Silage and Earlage from Immature Corn - The weather challenges leading to late planting season last spring (2011) have raised a concern about corn reaching maturity in some locations in Michigan this fall. It may not be practical to harvest the late maturing corn as grain corn. Alternatives may exist including harvesting as silage or earlage.

Distillers Grains

Other Resources

Other Co-Products

Corn Silage

  • Pricing and Use of Immature Corn as Silage for Beef Cattle - Immature corn is defined as corn that fails to reach adequate maturity and can not be sold at normal, prevailing market values without steep price discounts. Corn that is drought-stressed,heat unit deficient, water logged, or frosted meets our definition. 
  • Harvesting Drought-Stressed Corn Silage - Corn should be harvested for silage when the whole plant dry matter is between 30 and 40 percent. The recommended harvest moisture ranges are the same for drought-stressed corn as for corn grown under ideal soil moisture conditions 
  • Nitrate Accumulation in Drought-Stressed Corn & Forages: Sampling & Testing - In some years, farmers may face salvaging drought-stressed corn and forage crops by chopping it for silage or cutting it for hay.When that occurs be aware that feeding of drought-stressed corn silage, green-chopped forage or hay to cattle carries the concern of nitrate poisoning.
  • Controlling Silage Leachate: Environmental Stewardship - Silage leachate—seepage from silage piles, bags, bunkers or silos—often occurs on beef and dairy farms and is one of the farm outputs requiring proper management.
  • Guidelines for Pricing Corn Silage and Earlage from Immature Corn - The weather challenges leading to late planting season last spring (2011) have raised a concern about corn reaching maturity in some locations in Michigan this fall. It may not be practical to harvest the late maturing corn as grain corn. Alternatives may exist including harvesting as silage or earlage.

Cow Wintering

  • Reduce Hay Feeding by 2/3 or More! -Corn stover is corn residue that remains after grain harvest and includes dropped grain, husk, leaf, stalk, and cob.  Corn stover is one of the least expensive feeds available, it can be grazed or harvested, it meets gestating beef cow requirements for energy, and currently there is little competition for other uses.
  • Stretching Feed Resources Through Strategic Culling - Could you make it through the winter on the feed you have with fewer mouths to feed? Downsizing the herd could, at least, lighten the financial load of buying hay and supplement. 
  • Best Management Practices of Hay Feeding [Video]

Mineral/Vitamin

Additional Resources