Corn silage quality and dairy cattle feeding Randy Shaver Dairy Science Department University of Wisconsin - Madison Whole-Plant Corn Silage Grain ~40-45% of WPDM Avg. 30% starch in WPDM Variable grain:stover Stover= ~55-60% of WPDM Leaves = 15% of DM Stem = 20-25% of DM Cob+Shank+Husk= 20% of DM 80 to 98% starch digestibility Kernel maturity Kernel particle size Endosperm properties Length of time in silo 40 to 70% IVNDFD Lignin/NDF Hybrid Maturity 1
NDF Content of Corn Silages DM basis 1 Std Dev Average 1 Std Dev Dairyland 2002-2007 n=13k/yr. Dairy One 2002-2007 n=19k/yr. 37% 43% 49% 38% 44% 50% Starch Content of Corn Silages DM basis 1 Std Dev Average 1 Std Dev Dairyland 2002-2007 n=13k/yr. Dairy One 2002-2007 n=15k/yr. 23% 30% 37% 24% 31% 38% 2
ivndfd 48-h ivndfd in Corn Silages % of NDF 1 Stdev Average 1 Stdev Rock River 2003-2007; n=400/yr 51% 56% 61% Dairyland 2002-2007; n=4500/yr 56% 61% 66% Marshfield 2002-2007; n=500/yr 49% 58% 67% 3
30-h ivndfd in Corn Silages % of NDF 1 Stdev Average 1 Stdev Rock River 2007; n=800 45% 51% 57% Dairyland 2007; n=1900 46% 51% 56% 4
Control and bm 3 corn silage DM, starch, NDF and IVNDFD from 11 trials published in JDS since 1999 Control bm 3 DM, % of as fed 34 ± 3 33 ± 4 Starch, % of DM 31 ± 3 30 ± 4 NDF, % of DM 42 ± 2 41 ± 2 30-h IVNDFD, % of NDF 46 ± 9 58 ± 8 Least-square means from meta-analysis on data from 11 trials with 17 treatment comparisons published in JDS since 1999 Control bm 3 Stats DMI, lb/d 53 56 Significant Milk, lb/d 83 87 Significant Fat, % 3.67 3.59 Trend lb/d 3.0 3.1 Significant Protein, % lb/d 3.08 2.5 3.07 2.6 NS Significant 5
Responses to bm 3 corn silage Oba & Allen, 2000, JDS; MSU Control bm 3 Control bm 3 Diet Forage 42% 42% 65% 65% DMI, lb/d 53 b 54 a 47 y 50 x Milk, lb/d 74 b 81 a 67 y 74 x Milk Fat, % 3.67 a 3.28 b 3.90 3.86 SCM, lb/d 70 b 72 a 65 y 72 x Responses to bm 3 corn silage Oba & Allen, 2000, JDS; MSU 13 lbs. less concentrate DM or 8 lbs. less corn DM fed Control bm 3 Diet Forage 42% 42% 65% 65% DMI, lb/d 53 54 a 47 y 50 Milk, lb/d 74 81 a 67 y 74 Milk Fat, % 3.67 3.28 b 3.90 3.86 SCM, lb/d 70 72 a 65 y 72 6
Responses to leafy corn silage Trial DMI Milk MN, JDS, 1999 NS NS WI-Madison, JDS, 2000 NS NS Miner, JDS, 2001 NR +3 lb. WI-River Falls, JDS, 2002 +2 lb. +3 lb. MN, JDS, 2003 NS NS IL, 2006, JDS NS NS Response to leafy corn silage Ballard & co-workers, 2001, JDS; Miner Item Dual Purpose bm 3 Leafy CS NDF, % 42 42 42 CS IVNDFD, 32 46 28 % of NDF Milk, lb/d 69 b 74 a 69 b Milkfat, % 4.2 4.1 4.3 FCM, lb/d 71 b 75 a 72 b 7
Response to a corn silage hybrid with both increased NDF & IVNDFD 1 Ivan et al., 2005 Item LCW HCW CS NDF, % 49 53 CS 48-h IVNDFD 58 67 Diet, % CS % NDF % NDF from CS 45 31 22 45 33 24 DMI, lb/d 53 b 56 a FCM, lb/d 2 70 b 75 a 1 40 mid lactation cows fed 55% forage diets 2009 Silage Locations Corn Agronomy Program Spooner 85 and earlier Rice Lake Chippewa Falls 85-90 Coleman 90-95 95-100 Marshfield Valders Galesville 100-105 105-110 Fond du Lac Arlington Lancaster 110-115 16 http://corn.agronomy.wisc.edu Lauer 1994-2009 University of Wisconsin Agronomy 8
Trait(s) What is an average hybrid? (1995-2008) GxE Forage yield NDF NDFD Starch Milk2006 N Mg ha -1 g kg -1 g kg -1 g kg -1 kg Mg -1 kg ha -1 Normal 2636 17.1 471 600 297 1620 27500 Bmr 124 13.9 483 684 263 1690 23900 Leafy 209 17.5 482 593 275 1600 27900 LSD(0.05) 1.8 NS 18 39 60 2800 17 http://corn.agronomy.wisc.edu Lauer 1994-2009 University of Wisconsin Agronomy Example Relationship between milk per acre and milk per ton of corn hybrids in South Central WI during 2002. Milk per Acre (lb/a) 38000 36000 34000 32000 30000 28000 26000 High yield RK668 D2660 DKC6411 7625RRBt K8105LFRR LG2499 DST10419 34M95 35R58 CX1020Bt 8523IT N59Q9 N48V8 6068Bt RX601RRYG T7095 P35D45 DKC6019RRYGCB 34B23 S6408Bt N51Z7 JC7 DKC5824 LGX52001 56K44 FS4042Bt RX664 GS1061 H8250 CX1080A 33B51 DKC6009DKC5878YGCB RX730RRYG HC350 HiDF3600 DKC5334RRYGCB 24X G8779 LC4531 T7012 6406Y G7366 HiDF3300 H2387 8590IT S9617 DKC4446RRYGCB B3203 H6775Bt LC7415 JC8 DKC5073 DKC6017 LG2488 FS4481 T6900 JS5450 B3195 High yield and quality 24000 22000 3200 3300 3400 3500 3600 3700 Milk per Ton (lb/t) F377 F407 F657 High quality 9
Selecting from the quadrants Lower left quadrant Low yield & low quality Why bother? Selecting from the quadrants Upper left quadrant High yield & below average quality The dry cow, low-end cow, replacement heifer quadrant 10
Selecting from the quadrants Upper right quadrant High yield & high quality The high-cow quadrant Fine-tune selection on nutrition needs (i.e NDFD vs. starch) & agronomic characteristics ti (i.e. Bt) Selecting from the quadrants Lower right quadrant High quality & below average yield How much yield drag can you live with? 11
Evaluate your corn silage nutrient composition Whole-Plant Corn Silage Grain ~40-45% of WPDM Stover= ~55-60% of WPDM Proportions of grain & stover highly variable -Assess with starch & NDF contents - Adjust diets accordingly 12
Whole-Plant Corn Silage Assess with IVNDFD DMI? Diet forage content? Effective fiber? Whole-Plant Corn Silage Assess starch digestibility Adjust diets accordingly 13
Ruminal In situ starch degradability of corn silage over time in storage Newbold et al., JDS, 2006 abstr. Starch CP Months in Silo % Degradability 2 53 39 4 54 36 6 59 34 8 64 43 10 69 47 Visit UW Extension Dairy Cattle Nutrition Website http://www.uwex.edu/ces/dairynutrition/ 14