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Faunsdale, AL | Less likely that you will have high nitrates, but TEST it before feeding.
Especially before GREEN CHOPPING it. That is the most dangerous thing you might do with corn you don't know the nitrate content of. Even then, you might miss a hot spot in the field, so work the cows up slowly on the green chop as soon as possible so you have some silage to blend it with. Cows can get accustomed to nitrates and do OK on silages etc that would kill other cattle that were suddenly fed a full ration of the same feed.
If you have the time and especially if you have high nitrates in it, make silage out of it and let it ferment at least a month if not more so a lot of the nitrate will be broken down. Do be careful about any seepage from bags or silos, piles etc. The nitrates can be very high in that and cattle will somtimes drink it if they can get to it. Also watch for silo gas, seems to be worse when high nitrate corn is put in.
You probably don't want to miss any dry matter you can get off of the crop, but chopping it at a foot off the ground will put less nitrate in the silage than chopping at 6". You might go out and cut stalks from several different areas of the field and throw them through the chopper or a shredder and get a sample of the greenchop to test for nitrates before you actually get into the field. It will help get the moisture right as well. You can compare cutting the stalks at 6 and 12 inches or even higher if you want. | |
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nitres in corn silage
