Duane A. Lienemann,
UNL Extension Educator,
Webster County
July 27, 2012 Edition
Well, our local county fair has come and went and I didn’t get to attend any of it at all. I reported last week that I would probably be an observer this year, never dreaming that I would be confined to my home and to my bed. I was stubborn and a bit stupid after “just bruising” my hip and breaking an arm, and after healing for a week, I decided I had to go over to the fair for the opening of the horse show. Bad move -worse idea. Even with my cane and head strong stubbornness, I guess I was not sure-footed as I thought I was, and found some uneven ground while actually walking to the bleachers to rest a bit. I slipped, the damaged hip went out, and down I went into a heap, turning a badly bruised hip into a fractured one. The horse exhibitor mothers were there and made sure that this stubborn German did not get up, and they were right. That pretty much ended my chances of taking in the fair. From all reports I think those that stepped up in my absence did a great job and the fair went rather smoothly, other than the hot weather for which they had no control whatsoever. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of those that did step up and all the exhibitors and parents for understanding why things may have been a little different this year. I also want to thank everyone for the kindness you showed with food, cards, phone calls, Facebook comments, emails and visits. It really does make the time go faster! Now back to reality…
A lot of Nebraska’s dry land and even some irrigated producers in our area may be faced with having to use their corn or other crops for hay, grazing or silage because of this year's drought conditions. One only has to look at the fields and how the pivot corners look to get a good idea of what the dry land fields are looking like after one of the longest dry, hot spells that I can remember. To add to that, we have not had a good year to put in hay, either alfalfa or prairie hay, so we are going to be really short of feed for our cows come this fall and winter. Compounding that is the bumper crop of hay we were blessed with just one year ago was severely cut into by sales and gifts to producers in Texas, Oklahoma and parts of Kansas who experienced this same drought last year. There wasn’t a day this past year that I didn’t see trucks coming down Highway 281 loaded with hay going south. I was afraid that this may short us in the case of a drought – Bingo!
Now, not only are we short of hay and our crops are suffering from the effects of drought, I think we also have something else that we may want to watch very close. One of the major concerns with using corn or other forages in drought areas is the level of nitrates. I know a lot of producers are or will be using corn this year for silage. If you are in this category, whether haying or ensiling corn, I highly suggest that you need to cut the stalks higher off the ground because nitrates accumulate in the lower portion of the corn stalk. Not only will that cut back on potential nitrates it will leave something in the field to catch any snow we may get this winter. I know that ensiling will reduce the nitrates significantly, but we do face a problem in that ensiling whole corn plants can be difficult because of the challenges in getting adequate oxygen exclusion necessary for proper fermentation which is the process that cuts down the nitrates.
Another problem is that immature corn silage will likely have higher crude protein content and lower energy content than normal corn silage. In addition, immature corn will have greater levels of moisture, making ensiling more challenging. One thing is for sure, if you do come back with forages that are high in nitrates then you need to introduce these nitrate-containing feeds slowly into livestock rations. Nitrate poisoning symptoms include increased pulse rate; heavy, quickened breathing; muscle tremors; weakness; staggered gait; blue mucous membranes and blindness. Should any of these symptoms occur, producers should remove the animals from the feed, and contact your veterinarian.
We have not been in a situation for many years and a lot of producers have gone away from utilizing corn and other forages for silage. It stands to reason that we have lost account of what silage is worth. Therefore, I have had several inquiries on the value of corn silage in the field. The best answer that I can give is that the old rule of thumb (the 5-7-9 rule) has been that each ton of 65% moisture corn silage standing in the field is worth 5 times price of a bushel of corn (earless corn), and 7 times price of a bushel of corn (low grain corn-less than 100 bu/A) and 9 times the price of a bushel of corn (normal, well-eared corn) delivered. I have seen variations of that rule of thumb. Harvest costs on a per ton basis from drought damaged corn undoubtedly will be higher than normal due to lower tonnage yields per acre. In the past UNL Extension has suggested using custom rates for Nebraska and discounted grain harvest as you would normally do, as an alternative to update these old rules of thumb. It varies with grain price but ranges from 8.5 to 9.0 times bushel price for normal silage and that is delivered into a bunker. Again this is for 35% DM silage and as-is bushel price of corn. Two sources of added information you might use: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/extensionhist/352/ NebGuide: Estimating Corn and Sorghum Silage Value ; or http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/sendIt/g1865.pdf NebGuide:The Use and Pricing of Drought-Stressed Corn . Remember that these are older documents and were put together with much lower corn prices. If you like using spreadsheets there are available to calculate corn silage value. One is available from University of Wisconsin Forage web site. It allows a customized price by varying grain content and whether the user is a buyer or seller of standing corn. It can be found at: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/crops/uwforage/silage.htm I might also suggest the UNL Drought Resources web site, http://DroughtResources.unl.edu for valuable information and links. Good Luck!
The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: www.webster.unl.edu/home
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