Silage Harvest Timing

BY Dairyland Seed Agronomy Team

Ideal crop moisture for corn silage harvest occurs about 45 days after silking, or 10 to15 days after dent. Most watch for 50 percent milk line in the kernel but remember that these timing indicators are just guidelines varying based on the environment and the hybrid. Last year we experienced ideal harvest moistures with very dry grain, well past 50 percent milk line. The opposite was true in 2021.

Our Dairyland Seed on-farm strip trials have provided over 1,000 silage samples, each from an individual plot, over the past four seasons. Our data suggests that milk/ton peaks near 67 percent harvest moisture and milk/acre at 65 percent moisture. This supports the generally accepted ideal range of 64 to 68 percent.

Nothing can truly replace whole-plant moisture for timing silage harvest. In a year like 2023, we need to be thinking about the moisture of a truckload or more to account for variability in the field. We need to target that 64 to 68 percent range for the whole farm, which means we probably start at 70 to 72 percent moisture and track it as harvest progresses.

Our observations here in the week of August 21, 2023, is that much of our crop is on either side of denting, giving us a 10–20-day countdown. Talk to your local Dairyland Seed Representative with any further questions. Happy harvesting!