FACT SHEET 2: Effect of corn plant characteristics on corn silage processing scores

Abstract

When evaluating corn silage, the focus is often on total yield. However, when thinking about the harvesting process, and specifically the task of a kernel processor to break apart corn kernels, it is important to consider plant characteristics that may influence how the processor performs and the resulting Corn Silage Processing Score (CSPS). Plant characteristics measured in a recent study include: ear to stover ratio, whole plant dry matter (DM) and ear DM. For this study, four hybrids with varying characteristics were harvested with the same harvest equipment to evaluate differences in CSPS.