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all over Iowa | Heat damaged corn is usually 90-100% the feeding value of #2 corn. I cut kernels open to check the starch inside, if the starch is white I'm confident it will work fine whatever the shell looks like. If the starch is tan, you will start loosing digestibility. If the starch is dark, or the kernels feel light, you can't buy it cheap enough. As was stated, mold is an entirely different issue and something to be avoided.
I usually recommend feeding up to 25% of the total as fed diet, or up to half of the corn portion when there are wet co-products in the diet. Nothing scientific about those levels, just easy thumb rules to remember. I've never seen them reduce performance if the starch is good, but if the starch is damaged enough it could affect marbling. The only time I have seen cattle back off intakes due to heat damaged corn is when there was an actual fire in the elevator and the smoke smell was very strong.
As for what to pay for it, as little as you can without letting it get away - I usually start with half the price of #2 and negotiate from there.
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damage corn-whats it worth?
