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Wet fall may lead to drier corn silage at harvest

An extension forage specialist is concerned about how silage will be impacted by a wet fall in parts of the Corn Belt.

Shelby Gruss is with Iowa State University.

“This may seem backwards, but the longer we wait by the time we’re able to harvest most likely it’s going to be drier coming out of the field because that plant is still maturing.”

Dry forage is much harder to pack and to exclude oxygen from, but she tells Brownfield there are several ways to ensure the corn ensiles.

“We can start to reduce the chop length and really ensure our kernel processing is good. Adding moisture back (is another option), but this can be very difficult because it takes a lot of water to do that. A big one is just really make sure you’re packing it as best as you possibly can.”

Gruss says blending in a wetter forage like alfalfa or adding an inoculant can also help.