Corn Silage

Corn silage is a popular forage for ruminant animals because it is high in energy and digestibility and is easily adapted to mechanization from the stand-crop to time of feeding. Offsetting these benefits of corn silage are some disadvantages relative to other forages. There are few established markets for silage sales in the Midwest and Northeast, and transportation costs are high so the crop must often be fed on or near the farm where it is produced. Storage facilities for corn silage also tend to be more expensive than those for dry hay. However, recently developed alternative storage systems for silage have reduced storage costs to reasonable competitive levels. In some situations, where corn is not well adapted, the cost of production may be too high to warrant corn silage production. Also, on erodible soils corn silage production may be limited because of soil conservation requirements.