Corn Silage Harvest

When the corn plant has reached maturity it is getting close to harvest time. The farm's goal is to harvest the corn silage when it is at a certain percent dry matter that will maximize the transfer of energy from the silage to the cow resulting in a higher production of milk per cow.

This percentage of dry matter is approximately 32%. To check the percent dry matter of the crop while it is still in the field, farmers cut a few plants by hand and run them through a chipper to mimic the corn chopper. Once they have a chopped up sample of silage they can determine the percent of dry matter by weighing the sample when wet, cooking the sample to remove all moisture, and weigh again. (See picture of Koster tester above)

Ex. If the sample weighs 16 oz. wet and 11oz. after it has been cooked and dried it has a dry matter percentage of 32%. This tells the farmer that the crop is ready to harvest.