Feeding Baled Corn Residue to Beef Cows

By Mary Drewnoski

Drought conditions have reduced forage supplies and increased hay prices, causing many cattle producers to look for alternative winter feed resources. Corn residue can help stretch limited hay supplies. However, baled corn residue is not equivalent to grazed corn residue or to a bale of grass hay. Additionally, how the residue is harvested and fed can have major ramifications on its feeding value.

Grazing and baling corn residue are not the same

Corn residue is made up of stalk, leaf, husk and cob, and these plant parts differ considerably in feeding value. Husk is highly digestible, leaf is intermediate, while cob and stalk are the least digestible.

When cattle graze corn residue, they selectively consume the highest-quality portions of the plant. Cattle typically select any remaining grain first, followed by husk and leaf, while consuming relatively little cob and stalk. As a result, the diet cattle select while grazing can be considerably higher in quality than the average nutrient composition of all the residue standing in the field. This ability to select is one reason grazing is generally the best way to use corn residue to meet the nutrient needs of cows.

Baling changes the situation. Raking and baling collects more of the low-quality stalk that cattle would normally leave behind when grazing. When whole bales are fed, cows can still sort through the residue and select more of the husk and leaf, but that selection results in considerable refusal and waste.