By Richard Purdin
November has been a very busy month for producers, most of the soybeans have been harvested and the corn harvest is making great strides. The weather pattern for the rest of the month is forecasted to be fair for completing the harvest. In some cases, producers might be done with harvest and considering utilizing the leftover corn fodder for feed either by baling and storing or letting the livestock graze the fields.
Today I wanted to discuss some steps and information that could be helpful while harvesting your corn fodder.
1. First ask yourself why? No matter if you are hooking up the baler or moving the cows, there is labor involved. Some reasons for harvesting corn fodder could be for extra forage, bedding, extending the grazing season, and residue management.
2. Know how much feed is out there. Penn State University estimates there are roughly 18 pounds of stems, 16 pounds husk, and 6 pounds of cob left for every bushel of corn harvested. Let’s say your corn made 150 bushels per acres, this would equal 2,700 pounds/acre of stems, 2,400 pounds of husk/acre, and 900 pounds of cobs/acre.
3. Remember to supplement. Corn stalks can be a great feed stuff, but nutrition is usually lower than most forages and will continue to decline going into winter. Most corn fodder usually runs around 50- 45 Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) and 6-8 % crude protein with low levels of vitamin A. Make sure to supplement with a well balance mineral and salt program and added protein sources such as 2.5 – 3 pounds of dried distillers grain or soy hull pellets per head (especially for growing heifers).
4. Harvest when the fodder is dry. If grazing, make sure to have a water source and avoid grazing during muddy conditions. If the weather turns wet during grazing, moving the animals more often through the field or taking them off the field will prevent pugging of the field and ingestion of soil contaminated fodder (this could be an issue for unvaccinated calves).
Some other items for discussion is
• USDA will be providing direct assistance to farmers impacted by the coronavirus for the second time this year. Producers can contact the FSA office to sign up for their second round of payments for 2020. Sign up deadline is Dec. 11, 2020 you should call before coming to the office. The phone number to call is (937) 544 2033.
• 2021 elections for Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs opened Oct. 13 and will close March 15, 2021. Contact the ladies at Farm Service Agency about signing up for one of these programs (937) 544-2033
• Our new 2020 Plat Books are for sale. Call the office to make an appointment to buy one at (937) 544-2339
• Check out my survey for local crop yields, I would appreciate your help in constructing a local hybrid/ variety utilization spreadsheet for the growing season 2021. The survey can be found at adams.osu.edu and Adams OSU Facebook page.
• For producers who do their on-farm taxes, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, OSU Extension is putting on a Farmer and Farmland Owner Tax School Webinar to help with tax preparation questions Dec, 3 from 6:30- 8:30 pm. There is a $35 fee to attend. To register go to https://go.osu.edu/farmertax2020
From the Field
In scouting field conditions for Adams County, the following is things I have noticed.
1. Soybean harvest nears completion
2. Corn harvest continues to make progress but standability is becoming an issue.
3. Some tobacco producers have began taking down and stripping.
4. Cooler weather has slowed forage growth.
5. Manure continues to be spread.
6. Corn stalks are being baled for forage, remember to replace loss nutrients!
7. Fall brush and fence row cleaning.