Developing a Harvest Strategy for the 2021 Corn Silage Harvest

Sep 16, 2021

By KEVIN D JAREK, Jamie Patton

Wisconsin leads the nation in corn silage production, harvesting over 20 million tons of silage (at 65% moisture) on approximately 970,000 acres in 2020. Corn silage is unique compared to multi-cut forage systems, such as alfalfa, as there is a single opportunity to properly harvest and store quality forage each year. With such high stakes riding on harvest management decisions, farmers and consultants must diligently monitor crop maturity and moisture to optimize harvest timing to balance silage yield, ensiling conditions, and forage quality.

The 2021 growing season has been highly variable across the state. While planting conditions were optimal for most areas of the state, many fields suffered a setback with a late season frost, resulting in variable plant dieback and uneven stands. Additionally, western and southern portions of the state have endured season-long drought with much of the remainder of the state receiving timely, yet inconsistent and often torrential, rainfall. These weather challenges have resulted in significant variability in crop growth, maturity and dry down, both from field to field and within individual fields.

With such crop variability, it is imperative farmers and consultants regularly monitor corn silage acres to properly time harvest activities. Harvesting silage at the proper moisture content for the intended storage structure allows for the proper packing and ensiling, reduces forage spoilage, and minimizes the production of leachates. Whole field moisture content, as well as areas of differential dry down within a field, should be documented in order to develop a harvest strategy to ensure the average moisture content of the packed forage is consistent and within an acceptable range.

Crop moisture levels can be determined by bringing whole plant samples to silage dry down events commonly hosted by regional Forage Councils and agriculture cooperatives. In addition, chopped samples can be submitted to local testing laboratories. Moisture test results from many area silage dry down events co-hosted by UW-Madison Division of Extension are available at https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/silagedrydown/.

Source : wisc.edu

Video: Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Understanding how a plant responds to stress is one thing.

Using that knowledge to make better management decisions is another.

Systemic acquired resistance, or SAR, is the plant's more direct defense response. When stress or infection occurs, the plant begins signaling throughout its system and preparing defensive compounds.

But if we know that response exists, can we help prepare the plant before the stress arrives?

The answer starts with understanding what triggers the response and what the plant needs to carry it out.

The Trigger and the Fuel

Salicylic acid plays an important role in triggering the SAR pathway.

Think of it as turning the truck on.

The engine may be running, but it still needs fuel to do the work.

In this case, manganese plays an important role in supporting the enzyme systems involved in the plant's defensive response.

This makes manganese status an important part of the conversation. Whether a producer is using tissue testing, sap analysis, or simply scouting for visible deficiency symptoms, the goal is to make sure the plant has adequate manganese available.

Manganese is required in relatively small amounts, but that does not make its role small.

If the plant receives a signal to defend itself but lacks the nutrition needed to support that response, it may struggle to carry out the process efficiently.

The trigger matters.

The fuel matters too.

Prepare Before the Stress Arrives

The best time to think about stress management is before the plant is overwhelmed.

Once a crop is already struggling, management can quickly turn into a game of catch-up.

This is similar to nitrogen management. Once a plant becomes severely deficient, correcting the problem does not necessarily erase the time and yield potential already lost.

Plant defense can work the same way.

Low-rate, targeted approaches designed to support the SAR pathway may fit best ahead of an expected stress event rather than after significant damage has already occurred.

That requires producers to think about predictable stress.

We may not know exactly what the weather will do tomorrow, but we generally know summer heat is coming. We know certain field conditions increase disease pressure. We know a herbicide application can temporarily stress a crop as the plant processes the chemistry.

Even a properly timed and labeled herbicide application can create a temporary response in the plant.

That does not mean the herbicide is bad.

Weeds can create significantly more yield loss than the temporary stress caused by controlling them.

The question is not whether we should eliminate every stressor.

The question is whether we can better prepare the plant to manage necessary and predictable stress.

Not All Stress Is Bad

Stress is a normal part of plant growth.

A perfectly stress-free environment does not exist in the field.

In fact, some stress is necessary for normal plant development. A plant responds to wind, temperature, moisture, sunlight, and countless other environmental signals throughout the season.

The environment is stress.

The plant's job is to manage it.

Problems begin when the stress load becomes greater than the plant's ability to respond.

Extreme heat, drought, high salt concentrations, disease pressure, and even certain management practices can add to that load.

This is where understanding SAR becomes useful.

Instead of waiting until the plant is visibly struggling, producers can begin identifying periods when stress is likely and make management decisions around those windows.

ISR Starts With the Soil

While SAR is a more direct defense response, induced systemic resistance, or ISR, brings the conversation back to soil health.

The longevity of a farm is closely connected to the health of its soil.

Carbon plays a major role because it supports biological life within the soil. Bacteria, fungi, and other organisms interact with plant roots and influence how the plant grows, accesses nutrients, and prepares for stress.

This is why soil health cannot be reduced to one product or one application.

It is a system.

Keeping living plants in the field longer can support biological activity. Cover crops may fit some operations. Better water management can improve soil conditions.