Crops and Forage Management
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Item Corn silage: rain following dry conditionsLawrence, Joe (PRO-DAIRY, 2025-09)The 2025 growing season has experienced many extremes. Recently several areas have received much needed rain and while it has not been enough to alleviate the dry conditions for most, it has been enough to “perk up” some corn fields. The following reminders and guidelines apply to corn that has a developed ear and in the maturation phase as this rain is received.Item Late season forage considerations for 2025Lawrence, Joe (PRO-DAIRY, 2025-08)The challenges of the 2025 growing season continue with questions about adequate quantity and quality of forages to meet the needs of dairy herds in the coming year. As we look for a strong finish to the growing season to alleviate some of these challenges it is important to assess your forage situation and take steps to meet the forage needs of the herd. The PRO-DAIRY Forage Management webpage has a number of resources that may be useful when working with your farm team to assess your forage situation. A new fact sheet offers guidance on: Hay crops - Weather challenges around first cutting resulted in large harvest of lower quality hay for some farms. Understanding the nutritional value of hay crops in inventory will be important to determining additional forage needs. Corn silage - The variability of the corn crop will effectively create two different “cuttings” for some farms. To make the most of this challenging situation it will be important to consider storage and management options to best utilize the earlier corn which should be able to reach proper maturity with good nutritional value. The later corn, which may need to be harvested at an immature stage can still have value for certain groups of animals on the farm but needs to be managed separately. Grain crops for forage - Late planted corn originally intended for grain may not make it may be an option for additional corn silage. Recognizing that in these cases this may still result in immature corn silage, the same considerations above should be considered. It is very difficult to price immature corn silage.Item Challenges and progress in water qualityWorkman, Kirsten (PRO-DAIRY, 2024-11)Working on water quality issues and solutions in the Finger Lakes region has been a bit stressful lately. Disagreements surrounding proposed watershed rules and regulations in Owasco Lake, a newly released Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Cayuga Lake, a surge in late summer and early fall algae blooms across many of the Finger Lakes, along with added pressure from climate change make for a bit of heart burn for all of us. However, collaboration and doubling down on effective solutions might be just the antacid we need.Item Soil health and corn silage performance: Comparing grain and dairy field systemsWorkman, Kirsten; Lawrence, Joe (PRO-DAIRY, 2024-10)Soil health is a key focus of corn growers working towards safeguarding their operation against increasingly challenging growing conditions and larger sustainability goals. Understanding the contributing factors that lead to resilient cropping systems in NY is an important part of farms meeting those goals. With funding support from the New York Corn Growers Association Corn Research and Education program soil health data was collected from the NY Corn Silage Hybrid Evaluation Program in 2023. The annual hybrid evaluation program offers the opportunity to compare the same hybrids in different growing environments. Measuring key soil health parameters at each location with the Cornell Assessment of Soil Health (CASH) test offered additional insight into the role of soil health in the overall performance of the crop grown at each location.Item 2024 Corn silage harvestLawrence, Joe (PRO-DAIRY, 2024-08)Despite all the variable and often extreme weather this season, the general narrative is of above average heat, and speculations of an early corn silage harvest. When looking at the growing degree day (GDD) accumulation for the growing season, locations across New York and the Northeast are well ahead of the 15-and 30-year averages. Using the Climate Smart Farming Growing Degree Day Calculator and data from locations across the state (with a May 10 example planting date) the season is 100 to 200 GDD’s ahead of the 15-year average through August 10.Item Solid Waste Rules Updates: What NY farmers need to knowWorkman, Kirsten (PRO-DAIRY, 2023-11-30)Item Livestock Mortality ManagementWorkman, Kirsten; Rowland, Sally; Latessa, Sara; Albrecht, Greg (PRO-DAIRY, 2023-11)NNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSAGM) have updated the livestock mortality management guidance to reflect recent changes in NYSDEC’s Division of Materials Management regulations for mortality burial and to clarify the allowable options for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). After an initial interpretation in November 2023 that did not allow burial on CAFOs, the agency has reviewed and updated the guidance to allow burial in some cases for permitted farms.Item 2023 Corn silage overviewLawrence, Joe; Kerwin, Allison (PRO-DAIRY, 2023-10)The 2023 growing season varied greatly in the Northeast. These extremes were captured in fields across locations of the NY VT Corn Silage Hybrid Evaluation Program . This level of variation offers the opportunity to contrast hybrid performance in diverse environments. However, it may also reduce the usefulness of studying broader forage quality trends.Item Corn silage harvest: An exercise in patience (2023)Lawrence, Joe (PRO-DAIRY, 2023-08)As we look across NYS and the Northeast, the 2023 growing season has thrown just about every weather scenario at us, making it hard to generalize any conditions across the state or region. However, as reports come in regarding the timing of tasseling, one general trend seems to be that the timing of tasseling is lagging behind 2022 by a week or more, despite similar planting dates. This has prompted the recycling of this title from an article shared during another challenging growing season. Due to the uncertainties of this season, we offer some follow-up ideas to build on the Corn silage harvest toolkit: 2023 edition shared last month.Item Assessing forage crop damage from recent weather events (2023)Lawrence, Joe (PRO-DAIRY, 2023-07)Reports of isolated crop damage due to recent weather events range from flooding to hail to wind. While some of these events have impacted relatively small areas in NY, the damage is greater in other areas of the Northeast. Regardless of whether a few acres or several fields were affected, it is helpful to get out and scout your crops to understand the impacts.