October, 2010 / Time to Rethink Your Corn Silage Variety Selection

Corn silage is the premier high energy feed on most dairy farms. In corn silage, 55 – 60% is true forage and so fiber digestibility is a key factor in selection for your farm. Normal corn varieties will range 5 – 6 units of NDFd while BMR types add another 5 – 6 units of variability. For every 1 unit increase in NDFd, you gain .55 lbs of 4.0 fat corrected milk. Thus many farms have selected for high digestible fiber and a large number are planting Brown Mid Rib even where they have a greater chance of taking a significant yield hit.

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