This past week I had the opportunity to travel to many of our local plot and field days. I was impressed with how Trelay’s crops looked overall. In north central and north eastern Wisconsin the crop shows some stunting from the dry weather, but the rains came in time to produce some good grain yields. Many varieties are just getting to hard dent and have a ways to go before they reach black layer, but the warm September weather is just what we needed to finish this crop.
With large acres affected by the hail storms this year, growers need to be concerned with molds that may be present in their fields this fall. These molds can cause the development of mycotoxins which need to be tested before the grain or forage is fed. As long as the concentrations of mycotoxins are known, the feed can be fed safely, although it may need to be blended with other feed stuffs. Different classes of livestock have different levels of sensitivity to mycotoxins, so consult your nutritionist before feeding any hail damaged crops that may contain mycotoxins.
When the corn is at full dent, the kernels are about 1/4th milk and approximately 3 weeks to black layer or physiological maturity. Silage harvest has begun in many areas with whole plant moisture running in the low 60% to over 70%. Dry matter accumulation of grain is about 75% at 1/4th milk line and about 90% at ½ milk line.
With large acres affected by the hail storms this year, growers need to be concerned with molds that may be present in their fields this fall. These molds can cause the development of mycotoxins which need to be tested before the grain or forage is fed. As long as the concentrations of mycotoxins are known, the feed can be fed safely, although it may need to be blended with other feed stuffs. Different classes of livestock have different levels of sensitivity to mycotoxins, so consult your nutritionist before feeding any hail damaged crops that may contain mycotoxins.
