Silage Harvest Timing - Part II

SILAGE HARVEST TIMING – PART II

A few weeks ago, we summarized a timeline of corn maturity after silking to aid in silage harvest timing decisions. You can check it out here or simply know that you will be chopping silage about 45 days after flowering or 10-15 days after dent. Given that much of the crop is passing through the blister and milk stages, we are approximately on a 20–30-day countdown.

Remember that these timing indicators are just guidelines that will vary based on environment and the relative maturity of a given hybrid. Timing is even influenced by the maturity “habits” of a hybrid, such as flower timing, drydown speed, kernel size, starch density, so on and so on. As an extreme example of environmental influences, certain drought-stricken areas are already starting to chop their 2022 crop in order to hit the best whole-plant moisture.

The past three years of data in our on-farm strip trials have provided us with 772 harvested plot entries, both Dairyland Seed and competitor varieties. Milk/Ton peaks at 66.7% moisture and milk/acre at 65.1% moisture. Both confirm the ideal 64-68% range, but is likely on the dry side of reality for two reasons:

1. Anyone who has ever coordinated the logistics of a silage trial knows that plots tend to be harvested drier than normal; and
2. Our trials are not designed to discover the ideal harvest moisture. If they were, every plot would be harvested three times a week as dry down occurs.

Either way, it’s difficult to argue with 772 real world repetitions.

Nothing can truly replace whole-plant moisture for timing silage harvest. We need to target that 64-68% range for the whole farm, which means we probably start at 70-72% moisture and track it as harvest progresses. We need to watch fields carefully and do a little extra work to properly time harvest according to whole-plant moisture. When starting out, chopping a half load, toss a few plants into your woodchipper, or take plants to a silage dry down event.

Talk to your local Dairyland Seed Representative to inquire about such upcoming events or for help in any other way. Happy harvesting!

Brian Weller Western Region 507.456.3034	Dan Ritter Central Region 219.863.0583	Branden Furseth Northern Region 608.513.4265	Mark Gibson Eastern Region 260.330.8968	Amanda Goffnett Eastern Region 989.400.3793

Enjoying our Agronomy Updates? Suggestions for topics you'd like us to weigh in on? Drop us an email at dairylandseed@dairylandseed.com. We'd love to hear from you!