Still haven’t ordered corn silage for your dairy? Take a look at recent corn silage hybrid trials run by Penn State, and trials run jointly by the University of Vermont and Cornell.
The New York and Vermont trials were done across two sites: Musgrave Research Farm in Aurora, N.Y., and Borderview Farm in Alburgh, Vt. The hybrid relative maturity (RM) groupings were 85-98 RM and 99-110 RM.
“We did scale back locations due to staffing and logistics. Each hybrid was planted at two locations [in contrast to three locations each in the past]. Hybrids were split into two relative maturity groups and harvested on different dates based on RM group,” says Joe Lawrence, dairy forage systems specialist for Cornell Pro-Dairy.
There were 66 hybrids from 13 seed brands entered into the evaluation.
Early RM results
Corn silage at the New York trial site averaged 21.6 tons an acre with 6.3% crude protein and 35.4% starch, both measured as a percentage of dry matter. Yields ranged from 18.3 tons to 25.3 tons.
The Vermont trial saw a 24.4-ton average with 7.7% crude protein and 36.1% starch. Yields ranged from 21.5 tons to 28.5 tons.
Late RM results
In the late-season trials, the New York site averaged 21.9 tons with 5.7% crude protein and 37.4% starch. Yield ranged from 18.3 tons to 25.0 tons.
The Vermont site average 27.3 tons an acre with 7.3% crude protein and 38.9% starch. The yield range was 21.3 tons to 32.7 tons.
“In contrast to our neighbors in Pennsylvania, we had adequate to excess rainfall,” Lawrence says. “Aurora experienced rainfall very close to the long-term average and slightly above average for growing degree day accumulation. Alburgh experienced above-average rainfall [approximately 7.5 inches more than the long-term average] and was also slightly above average in GDDs.
“Something that stood out to me, and is consistent with trial data over the years, is the difference in how hybrids respond to GDD accumulation based on other growing environment factors at a location. I have made the point before that not all growing degree days are created equal. In other words, yes, GDDs are a decent indicator of crop progress, but other weather factors affect how well the plant can utilize the available growing degree days.”
Pennsylvania results
Penn State’s trial evaluated corn silage varieties submitted by dozens of companies, and split the results based on short-season, midseason and late-season groups.
The short-season trial evaluated 20 varieties on farms in Bradford, Centre and Clinton counties. The midseason trial evaluated 29 varieties in Blair and Centre counties. The late-season trial was in Chester and Lancaster counties and evaluated 37 varieties.
The 91- to 97-day RM yield average was 21.3 tons an acre, ranging from 19.9 to 23.2 tons an acre. Crude protein averaged 7.4% and starch averaged 43.8%. The 98- to 103-day average yield was 21.2 tons, ranging from 19.9 to 22.4 tons. Crude protein averaged 7.5%, while starch averaged 43.1%.
The 99- to 105-day trial averaged 18.3 tons, ranging from 16.2 tons to 20.1 tons an acre. Crude protein averaged 7.3%, while starch averaged 43.1%. The 106- to 111-day average yield was 18.6 tons, ranging from 15.8 to 21.1 tons an acre. Protein averaged 7.4%, and starch averaged 41.9%.
The 111- to 114-day yield average was 20.5 tons, ranging from 18.6 to 22.4 tons. Protein averaged 7.8%, and starch averaged 42.1%. The 115- to 118-day yield averaged 20.5 tons, ranging from 19.5 to 22.4 tons. Protein averaged 8.0%, and starch averaged 40.4%
Advice for buying
University trials are beneficial because they are designed to provide nonbiased data. But keep the data in perspective.
“Do not put too much stock in our results or any other single source of data,” Lawrence says. “Do your homework. Utilize our data, along with multiple other sources, to understand hybrid performance across a range of conditions. Additionally, ask your seed supplier about hybrids with similar characteristics to a good performer in the trials.
“The exact hybrids entered may not be the best fit for a specific farm [RM, pest tolerance package, etc.], but seed companies have a larger portfolio of hybrids than what is in our trials, and they may have one with similar characteristics that fits a farms specific needs better.”
The summary in Cornell and Vermont’s evaluation programs states that growers often use two different approaches when evaluating trial data. The first is studying hybrid performance in an environment close to the growing conditions on a farm in a given year, but this approach is discouraged.
Instead, the second approach, looking for hybrids that perform consistently above average across trial locations, is considered more reliable as it will reflect more variable growing conditions that a grower could see over time.