Corn silage harvest is well under way throughout the area, depending upon the location of the farm.

Farms in areas that were experiencing significant drought-like conditions are probably nearing completion while other areas may have not started harvest yet.

Harvesting at the optimum moisture level results in better quality feed, however many times it will depend on the type of storage structure being used.

For sealed airtight silos, the ideal range is 60-65 percent, for upright silos, 63-68 percent; for silage bags 60-70 percent, and for trench silos, 65-72 percent moisture is the desired range.

Chopping at higher moistures often cause too much acid production (which reduces palatability), DM loss, and seepage. Valuable nutrients will be lost from the crop through seepage, which can also harm the environment.

Ideally, one should test moisture during harvest to stay within the optimum moisture range. If this is not practical, you can monitor moisture by the stage of crop development.

A simple method can be used to determine the optimum stage for harvesting your corn silage. When the kernels reach early dent state, a separation can be seen between kernel starch and milk.

Take an ear and snap it in half. You can see the firm starch deposited in the outer part of the kernel while the milk will occupy the base of the kernel.

This gives the appearance of a whitish line separating the two areas. The milk line moves down the kernels as the kernels continue to mature. When this line reaches the midpoint, 90 percent of the kernel dry weight has been achieved.

When the milk line reaches the base of the kernel, a black layer forms separating the kernel starch from the cob, the crop is then mature.

When the crop reaches full dent and the milk line first appears, the crop is usually about 70 percent moisture.

When the milk line reaches the midpoint, silage yields should be at their maximum and the moisture is at 65 percent. When the milk line reaches the base of the kernel, the crop moisture is usually about 60 percent.

By observing the development of the milk line, one can determine optimum harvest time. The one limitation of this method is the weather variation.

If you have experienced extremely wet or dry conditions for a few weeks before harvest, the moisture can vary by as much as 5 percent from the predictions given above. There are also wide variations in hybrids, so testing is still important.

Ag humor

John, a lifelong city man, tired of the rat race, decided he was going to move to the country and become a chicken farmer. He bought a nice chicken farm and moved in.

His next-door neighbor, also a chicken farmer, came for a visit one day and said, “Chicken farming isn’t easy. Tell you what. To help you get started, I’ll give you 100 chickens.”

John was thrilled. Two weeks later the neighbor dropped by to see how things were going. John said, “Not too well. All 100 chickens died.”

The neighbor said, “Oh, I can’t believe that. I’ve never had any trouble with my chickens. I’ll give you 100 more.”

Another two weeks went by and the neighbor stopped by again.

John said, “You’re not going to believe this, but the second 100 chickens died, too.”

Astounded, the neighbor asked, “What went wrong?”

John said, “Well, I’m not sure whether I’m planting them too deep or too close together.”

Luke Fritz is executive director of the Butler County Farm Service Agency.