Current Agronomic Reserch Related to Corn Silage

Predicting animal performance and relating it to improvements in corn silage quality whether from breeding or management is complex. In numerous studies, differences in fiber and digestibility translate into differences in animal performance. For example, researchers in Idaho have found that high quality corn silage (low fiber and high digestibility) produced $315 more beef per acre than low quality silage. Another example is the significantly higher milk production for brown midrib corn silage compared to its normal counterpart shown recently by Michigan and Wisconsin workers. The optimum silage composition can vary depending on the type of cow it's fed to (growing heifer versus milking cow, production level, stage of lactation, etc.) and the other components of the ration.