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Silage harvest is done in most areas. I have been getting many forage samples back and have been very impressed with what I am seeing this year. Silage yields are down in tonnage for central and northern Wisconsin, in the areas hurt by the dry weather earlier this year, but quality seems to very good yet. The rest of the areas are reporting big yields and high quality. Silage yields are running in the high 20’s to low 30’s for tonnage to the acre. Our new full season hybrid we added this year even bumped 40 ton to the acre in one plot!! Now that’s a lot of corn. This variety also produces good grain yields so the starch levels in the feed sample have been good. A couple earlier hybrids that we added are also doing great, we have a new 104 day and 107 day hybrid that both came back with great tonnage yields and starch levels in the high 30’s, a dairyman’s dream.
What a year, we go from one of the nicest Septembers with 80 degree weather and great growing conditions to high temps in October that are 20 degrees below normal. Most areas saw the first frost over the weekend. So what will this do the corn that has not reached black layer yet? Blow is a chart that shows what the kernel moisture is typically at different growth stages of the plat, along with the yield loss that could be expected with frost at that time.
This does a nice job to explain what we may see in the field if you find yourself with corn that has not quite made it to the finish line. The good news is that early grain harvests are coming in better than we expected for the year. Some yield results are running well over 200 bushel an acre, and even over last year’s numbers! Have a great harvest season, and look back for more yield updates as they com in.
