Corn silage is a useful late-season forage option for livestock producers, particularly in years when hay and haylage inventories are limited. Rainfall has been extremely low across Ontario this year, with some extremely dry areas and other areas closer to normal. Summer thunderstorm activity even created extreme variations between concession roads. As a result the corn crop is also quite variable in both yield potential and the corn-stover ratio. In some areas with more soil moisture and timely summer rains, the corn crop is close to normal. In other extremely dry areas, much of the corn has a lower grain yield potential. In many cases this corn can be salvaged as much needed silage. Of course this begs the question, “what is this corn silage worth?” The determination of the price of corn silage must be tailored to each individual situation.
Local supply and demand and negotiation between buyer and seller ultimately determines the price. With current grain corn and hay prices, corn silage still looks fairly attractive as an alternate forage. It is important that you make your own assumptions for your situation and calculate your own costs, in order to determine what you feel is an acceptable price. Then negotiate the best you can.
Corn Silage A Good Late-Season Forage Option
Approximately 83% of the corn acres in Ontario are planted with the intention of combining them as grain. Many of these corn acres are usually readily available for harvest as silage if needed. This gives the corn growing parts of the province a good late-season option when forage inventories get tight. Dairy producers can often increase the percentage of corn silage in the ration if necessary. This year, hay inventories are reduced and many farmers are looking for more forage to meet their needs. In some of the extremely dry areas, salvaging damaged corn crops for silage is the best option. Silage piles and silage bags provide flexible storage options, but some planning is required.
Example Calculations
One method to determine the price of corn silage is to compare it to the value of grain corn to determine a minimum price. As a seller, you would not want to sell it as corn silage for less than you could net selling it as grain. Buyers feeding corn silage to livestock might be prepared to pay more, depending on what alternate feedstuffs are available. From a livestock nutrient point of view, corn silage may be worth more in the ration than is reflected in the market. At current grain corn and hay prices, corn silage still looks very competitive as a forage feedstuff.
These calculated corn silage values are not necessarily the cost of production, or the feed nutrient values, but reflect the market value of the alternate harvesting options (ie. harvesting as grain corn).
As an example, look at the various fields in Table 1. Higher yielding corn fields contain a higher proportion of grain relative to stover, and are usually greater in digestible energy. Example #1 has good yield, while Example #2 yields about two-thirds of that. Example #3 has been severely stressed by lack of moisture. A corn crop that is almost earless is difficult to value as silage based on grain content. (Refer to “Salvaging A Poor Corn Crop below.)
The expected grain value should be adjusted for custom combining, drying, and trucking charges to give a value of the crop in the field. The additional soil nutrient value (P and K) removed in the non-grain portion of the silage (stover) is significant, at about $3.50 per tonne of corn silage harvested (@ 65% moisture). Calculating the cost per lb or tonne of dry matter can help put corn silage in perspective relative to what the market is willing to pay for hay. If the seller is going to fill the silo for the buyer, custom silo filling charges should also be added. Storage costs, fermentation shrink and spoilage losses are not included.