Where does corn fit into my forage production

system?

Jean Brisson. agr.R&D Valacta

Outline

1. Introduction

2. Interesting to grow corn?

3. Corn feeds

1. Corn silage

2. Earlage/Snaplage

3. Corn grain

4. Conclusions

INTRODUCTION

Corn market

Soybean meal market

Source: http://www.fpccq.qc.ca/Files/prix_Cr_grains.pdf

Lower price in fall?

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

• 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

• Corn is demanding– Heat– Water– Competition– Soil pH– Nutrients

• If you don’t do everything right, it shows from the road…

To grow corn

• It is possible to grow corn where it

was not possible 25-30 years ago– Climate change

– Corn genetic

To grow corn

• Yield is so important!– Ton per hectare

• Quality is so important!– ADF is key item to watch

To grow corn

• 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

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)

Corn feeds

Corn grower can:• Corn silage

– Cut high or low• Snaplage/Earlage• Corn grain

– High moisture– Dry

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

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

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)

Corn silage has its limitation

• Low protein

• Low mineral

• Require more storage capacity

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

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

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

MORE MILK WITH CORN SILAGE

More milk with corn silage but not always!

CORN SILAGE

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 $

Only good corn silage will deliver good performances

What are the features of good corn silage?

Composition varies quite a bit

Source: Valacta lab

Composition varies quite a bit

Source: Valacta lab

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

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

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)

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

Source: Kung. 2004

Kernel processor

Source: Kung. 2004

Kernel processor

Corn silage aerobic stability at feedout

Ask Robert, he is the expert

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

Corn products

• Snaplage/Earlage• Corn grain

Corn producer

Corn products

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

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

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

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

Where does corn fit?

Thank you!