What To Expect In Drought Stressed Corn Silage?

 

This year's growing season has been quite different in many parts of the country. During the drought season, crops we produce for cattle feed experienced mild to heavy drought stress in many areas. In this post, we will gawk at strangers. At Silage Agro, the best manufacturers of Silage Rajasthan, mean look at the challenges you need to expect with drought-stressed corn silage and what you should look out for.



What is drought?

A simple definition of drought is a prolonged period without any rain. Your crops can get varying degrees of drought stress, and its severity can cause a dramatic commotion during dry and hot weather in a short time.

Some risks you should know about in drought-stressed corn silage

Silage Agro believes that keeping these risks in mind and learning how to tackle such threats can save you costs and time. If all this confuses you, contact us to get an early supply of NutriMeal Silage for such conditions.

Nitrates: If you have harvested any crop during drought, the chances are that it will contain high levels of toxic nitrates. The rumen converts these nitrates to harmful nitrites. Nitrites combine with hemoglobin and form methemoglobin, which cannot carry oxygen, making it hard for your cattle to breathe. If you have nitrogen-fertilized your field or experienced heavy manure, your crops can likely get nitrates.

If you expose your drought-stressed silage to rain recently, nitrate-level may increase. So you should wait 13-14 days after rainfall to be on the safe side.

If you put your nitrate-infected silage in silos for at least 21 days before feed-out, it will reduce the levels of nitrates.

Nitrates are high in the lower part of the crop. So chopping at high levels will reduce the nitrate content. You will have less yield, but something is better than nothing.

You should chop and test the crop if you suspect it was nitrated.

You should move the cutter bar higher to leave more of the nitrate in the field.

You should test silage for nitrates.

High-nitrate silages can produce harmful silo gas, so you should be careful around bunkers. Stay safe by wearing a mask.

Molds & mycotoxins: Aspergillus creates aflatoxin, which can grow and multiply in hot and dry weather conditions that come in drought. On the other hand, Fusarium ear rot makes the fumonisin mycotoxins familiar in various weather conditions, but high temperatures and drought stress before and after silking are suitable. In addition, you should watch for other mycotoxins such as DON, T-2 toxin, zearalenone, and fumonisins.

●       Aflatoxins harm your cattle by causing feed deficiency and reproduction issues and can also affect the digestive system.

●       Aflatoxins are also poisonous for us and our cattle. As per standards, the aflatoxins in milk should be under 0.50 ppb.

●       You should consider an analysis of mold and mycotoxins before feed-out.

Dairy ration considerations with drought-stressed corn silage

You should consider these changes in ratio with drought-stressed silage.

●       The rations can have higher fiber levels.

●       Fiber digestibility might be higher and can trigger higher feeding rates to compensate for shortages.

●       Higher sugar levels are needed to compensate for a percentage of the extra starch supplements.

●       Drought-stressed corn silage is low on energy.

●       Corn silage with little or no starch works best.

●       Higher crude protein levels will be there.

●       Low starch, high sugar silage will be suitable.

●       Calcium and potassium levels can increase.

●       You should also get a lab test of the silage before feeding.

Drought-stressed corn silage harvest situations

You should consider these things for harvesting drought-stressed silage.

●       The harvest moisture should be about 62-68%.

●       Use an inoculant or bulletproof forage treatment for fermentation.

●       Do not green chop and quickly feed drought-stressed silage.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What do silage bales do?

Silage Bales: Preserving Nutrient-Rich Forage for Livestock Silage bales are tightly compressed bundles of fermented forage, primarily made from crops like corn, grass, or alfalfa. They serve as a high-quality feed option for livestock, providing essential nutrients throughout the year. The fermentation process preserves the forage's nutritional content, ensuring it remains palatable and digestible for animals. Best Corn Silage Silage bales are an efficient way to store and transport large quantities of forage, promoting sustainable agriculture practices.
Read more

Characteristics of good silage

Image
  Silages are the most common feeds used for the dairy cattle. Their never-ending benefits have made them the first choice of dairy farmers. Silages are considered as a rocket fuel for cows which increases cattle milk production . But it should be noticed that silage is not passive feed. Its dynamic nature can make change in the nutritional value with the time. Before purchasing silage for animals , we should possess knowledge about them. Below mentioned are characteristics of good silage - 1.       Color Color of silage can indicate potential fermentation problems. Generally, we say it as a green fodder. Right color of silage is said to be yellowish or greenish. Dark brown or black color silages are damaged due to high temperature and they harm the milk productivity of dairy cattle. Silages with yellow color have extra acetic acid and those with green color consists high amount of butyrate. 2.       Aroma Like we judge leftover food on the basis of odor, silages can als
Read more

Five Elements Of Top Quality Silage

Image
Feed interests for the largest share of production costs on a farm. To spotlight this fact, we should understand that farmers are thinking of new ways to save feed costs. However, lesser feed costs should not compromise quality. The best way to prohibit it is to include high-quality silage in dairy cattle rations. Elements for your top quality silage Here is the section you all were waiting for:- Moisture Content When you want to find out the proper time to yield the Corn Silage For Sale , the moisture content is critical. The perfect moisture content is 65 percent, more or less. Silage with more than 70 percent moisture content means that bacteria can grow, leading to more dry matter and less palatability. Even though DM is necessary for silage, palatability is also an essential element. On the other hand, if the moisture amount is less than 60 percent, it means your silage will be much challenging to pack and lead to more air in the product, leading to lower density and mol
Read more