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Where does corn fit into my forage production
system?
Jean Brisson. agr.R&D Valacta
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Outline
1. Introduction
2. Interesting to grow corn?
3. Corn feeds
1. Corn silage
2. Earlage/Snaplage
3. Corn grain
4. Conclusions
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INTRODUCTION
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Corn market
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Soybean meal market
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Source: http://www.fpccq.qc.ca/Files/prix_Cr_grains.pdf
Lower price in fall?
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Quebec corn market(2009 to 2013)
220
225
230
235
240
245
250
255
260
Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Pri
ce (
$/to
n)
Source: http://www.fpccq.qc.ca/Files/prix_Cr_grains.pdf
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• Do you know your feed cost?• Do you know your concentrate
cost?– $/hl– $/kg quota– $/ton
• Do you know your milk to concentrate ratio?
• Do you know your cost of production of forage?
Feed cost
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• Corn is demanding– Heat– Water– Competition– Soil pH– Nutrients
• If you don’t do everything right, it shows from the road…
To grow corn
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• It is possible to grow corn where it
was not possible 25-30 years ago– Climate change
– Corn genetic
To grow corn
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• Yield is so important!– Ton per hectare
• Quality is so important!– ADF is key item to watch
To grow corn
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• Do you measure yield on your farm?
• Pretty easy to figure out– Silage box holds
• 16 feet :1.7 ton dry matter
• 18 feet: 2.0 tons
• 24 feet: 2.6 tons
To grow corn
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Corn silage yield varies a lot
2500
5000
7500
10000
12500
15000
17500
20000
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Yie
ld
(kg
d.m
./ ha
)
Region/zone
Corn silage yield in different Quebec region(Financière agricole du Québec, 2007)
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Corn feeds
Corn grower can:• Corn silage
– Cut high or low• Snaplage/Earlage• Corn grain
– High moisture– Dry
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Part Average (D.M.)
Grain 20-50%
Stalk 17-40%
Leaves 15-25%
Cob 6-10%
Part Average (D.M.)
Grain 20-50%
Stalk 17-40%
Leaves 15-25%
Cob 6-10%
Corn plant composition
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Corn silage plant composition
Part of the plant% of whole
plant% NDF
Digest. NDF (%)
Digest. dry matter (%)
Tassel < 1 78.4 53.4 63.5
Leave node 6.1 78.1 60.3 69.0
Ear leave 5.8 80.5 69.5 75.4
Leaves 8.5 66.7 73.2 82.1
Ear 12.1 89.3 31.9 39.2
Stalk 18.3 66.5 61.5 74.4
Grain 48.5 11.8 89.7 90.0
Mike Allen. 1995
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Corn silage may fit
• Potentially high yield crop – According to La Financière Agricole: 4.8 to
16.6 t. dry matter /ha as compared with grass (1.6 to 6.7t./ha)
• Usually palatable feed • Conservation is good most of the time• Potentially high energy forage• Harvesting is easier than grass silage• Can be harvested 24 hours per day if needed• Requires a lot of Nitrogen (manure user)
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Corn silage has its limitation
• Low protein
• Low mineral
• Require more storage capacity
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Corn silage isn’t a magic feed
• Decades ago, corn silage has been blamed for health problem like:
– Fat cow syndrome– Ketosis– DA’s– Low production
• Corn silage based ration along with average quality grass silage requires quite a bit of protein supplementation to cover the needs
• Ration has to be well balanced to deliver good performances
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Forage base program in Valacta herds (2012)
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Kg
per
cow
per
yea
r
Corn silage
Haylage
Hay
Pasture
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Without corn silage With corn silage
Number of herds 1428 1147
Number of cows 44 63
Production
Milk (kg/cow/yr) 8258 8832
Butterfat (%) 3.81 3.84
Protein (%) 3.21 3.25
SCC('000 cell/ml) 247 264
ReproductionCalving interval 425 427
Breeding per cow 2.18 2.25
Feed costForage & conc. ($/hl) 17.95 16.87
Conc. ($/hl) 10.52 10.20
Herd performance with and without corn
silage
Source : Valacta. August 2008
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MORE MILK WITH CORN SILAGE
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More milk with corn silage but not always!
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CORN SILAGE
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Feed cost with and without corn silage depends on corn and soybean meal market
Low/Low Low/High High/Low High/High10
12
14
16
18
20
Impact for a herd of 100 cows
With Without
Price of corn/ Price of soybean meal
Fee
d co
st (
$/hl
)
- 71 $ + 37 $
- 48 $- 70 $
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Only good corn silage will deliver good performances
What are the features of good corn silage?
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Composition varies quite a bit
Source: Valacta lab
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Composition varies quite a bit
Source: Valacta lab
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Hybrid Yield(t. d.m./ha)
NDFd(%)
Starch(%)
Milk (kg/ton)
Milk(kg/ha)
A 21.3 59 23 1 625 34 508
B 20.8 61 37 1 680 35 180
C 21.1 56 34 1 595 33 948
D 14.8 68 31 1 860 27 449
E 21.7 65 34 1 780 38 653
F 22.6 62 35 1 740 39 662
G 24.0 62 27 1 690 40 446
Average 19.9 61 33 1 800 35 852
Pick the right hybrid for your needs
Source: Rankin. M., University of Wisconsin
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Harvested at the right moisture
< 28 %
28 – 32 %
32 – 36 %
36 – 40 %
> 40 %
Number of trials 5 19 35 30 16
Dry matter intake (kg/d) 24.2 23.6 24.1 23.8 24.1
Production (kg/d) 36.1 37.3 36.4 36.2 34.5
4% Fat corrected milk (kg/d)
33.5 34.7 33.5 33.0 31.0
Butterfat (%) 3.58 3.59 3.51 3.45 3.42
Protein (%) 3.05 3.07 3.11 3.10 3.10
Total tract starch digestibility (%)
93.2 94.0 92.1 93.4 91.3
Source: Shaver, Tri-State Nutrition Conference, 2012
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Harvest at the right stage
R2 = 0.40
40
50
60
70
80
0255075100Kernel milk stage
Wh
ole
pla
nt
mo
istu
re (
%)
n = 1896
Dent Black layer
Source: Leduc, Pioneer, 2009
Relationship between grain maturity and whole plant moisture (1990 - 1999)
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Kernel processor
1 – 3 mm 4 – 8 mm
Number of trials 43 7
Dry matter intake (kg/day) 23.9 23.3
Production (kg/day) 36.6 34.6
4% fat corrected milk (kg/day) 33.2 31.5
Butterfat ( % ) 3.44 3.42
Protein ( % ) 3.10 3.05
Starch digestibility ( % ) 94.8 88.9
Source: Shaver, Tri-State Nutrition Conference, 2012
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Source: Kung. 2004
Kernel processor
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Source: Kung. 2004
Kernel processor
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Corn silage aerobic stability at feedout
Ask Robert, he is the expert
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Corn silage starch digestibility
increases over time of storage
45
50
55
60
65
0 45 90 120 180 270
Effect of time of storage on starch digestibility and protein solubility
% sol. prot. % starch digest.
20%
Source: Mahanna. 2009
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Corn products
• Snaplage/Earlage• Corn grain
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Corn producer
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Corn products
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Starch site of digestion
• Starch may be digested :
– In the rumen (80 % efficiency)
– In the small intestine (97 % efficiency)
– In the large intestine(44 % efficiency)
• What is the best ?
– There is a limited potential for digestion in small intestine
– Starch digestion is pretty limited in large intestine…
Source : Beauchemin, 2006
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Corn presentation effect on starch digestibility
Source : Firkins. 2001
Corn productRumen starch
digestibilityTotal tract starch
digestibility
Craked corn 45 85
Ground corn 52 91
Flaked corn 57 94
High moisture rolled corn 87 94
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Equipment Volume(t)
Cost($)
Shrinkage and fermentation loss (%)
Cost($/ton fed)
Dry grain bin 100 15 375 3 16.00
Air tight silo and unloader 222 52 350 6 32.00
Roller mill/ Hammer mill 100 4 500 0.5 9.33
Storage and processing cost
Source: Dry grain. agdex 732/821b. juillet 2007. Référence Économiques. CRAAQ High-moisture grain. agdex 732/821F. juillet 2007. Référence Économiques. CRAAQ Grain bin. agdex 732/110. janvier 2007. Référence Économiques. CRAAQ
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Interest cost on inventories
Feed VolumeAverage cost
($/ton)Usage
(t/week)Short term
interest ($/ t.)
Corn 150 200 3.0 6.73
Corn 10 250 3.0 0.56
Protein supplément 1 640 0.75 0.57
Protein supplément 5 630 0.75 2.83
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Where does corn fit?
Thank you!