University of Wisconsin-Extension of Marinette, Oconto and Florence counties will provide an opportunity for corn silage producers to test their corn’s whole-plant moisture percentage.
Area producers are invited to participate in sample collection days on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and Oct. 6, at various locations. Scott Reuss, Marinette County UW-Extension agriculture agent, will be at the sites to chop and collect samples.
The complete time schedule and collection sites can be found at the agriculture tab of marinette.uwex.edu. Collection sites in Oconto County are Peterson Farms in Lena and the Curt Kohls Farm in Gillett.
Samples should be collected from all fields and areas of fields that have different varieties or growing conditions. In uniform fields, collections should be made from at least five plants in a W-shaped pattern from the area being sampled. In nonuniform fields, collections should be made of at least two plants from each type of plant moisture encountered.
The plant stems should be wrapped in wet paper and brought in separate samples to a collection site.
Corn silage harvest will be starting soon, but individual farms and fields will experience significant differences in moisture. Testing of corn fields for moisture allows producers to plan when to start chopping and how to progress through the fields.
High-quality corn silage can be produced in many different types of storage structures. However, each structure type—bunker silo, silage bag, upright silo or silage pile—needs to have the corn silage at a certain range of whole-plant moisture to achieve the best possible results.
For information, call Reuss at 715-732-7510 or 877-884-4408.
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