4 tips for optimal corn silage moisture

By Delbert Voight, Dwane Miller and Joseph Akins 

Getting into fields at the proper time to chop silage is often challenging, regardless of year and weather conditions. This year particularly, prolonged dry periods have put some producers in a tough spot regarding silage harvest. 

• Read more: 8 tips for perfect corn silage

As individual hybrids dry down, silage moisture should be monitored to insure optimal moisture content during harvest. Silage moisture levels can also be assessed with digital forage moisture testers. 

Remember, optimal moisture content for silage harvest varies slightly based on the structure used for storage.

What effect does dry weather have on corn silage harvest?

If not monitored closely, corn can go from ideal moisture to too dry, increasing the risk of storage losses. Silage harvested below the optimal moisture content can be difficult to pack, leading to improper fermentation, molding, and heating of the forage can reduce silage quality.

Though drought conditions are often considered to be negative for crop production, they can have some interesting effects on corn silage. For example, moisture-deprived corn often has high crude protein levels, high fiber digestibility, and net energy content typically doesn’t suffer too badly. Though high nitrate concentrations may cause for concern in heavily fertilized fields, but this can be reliably checked with a forage nitrate test. 

If chopping silage has become drier than the optimal moisture according to your storage facility, here are some management recommendations that can aid in ensuring proper fermentation and quality of the forage.

1. Decreasing length of cut and creating a finer particle helps to promote better packing and increases the digestibility of the kernel. However, when the particle size is smaller due to a finer chop, rations should be modified to ensure adequate digestive fiber.
2. Water can be uniformly added to dry silage to increase moisture content to aid in proper fermentation. When adding water to silage, the fill rate of most silos should be slowed due to slow water flows from most garden hoses and to ensure uniform water distribution.
3. Liquid inoculant additives such as propionic acid and Lactobacillus buchneri can be used to promote aerobic stability and decrease mold growth. These inoculants should be added at concentrations based on the manufacturer's instructions.
4. Kernel processing helps to pack silage more densely, which can lead to better stability of aerobic organisms, thereby aiding proper fermentation. This also boosts forage quality by increasing starch digestibility of the kernel, which could be a problem in dry silage.