Improvement has been greater and more consistent with high-moisture ground ear corn than with shelled corn. The value of the cob appears to be improved. A summary of 14 experiments showed high-moisture ground ear corn increased gains by 3 percent and feed efficiency by 10 percent over dry ground ear corn. High-moisture ear corn makes a palatable, complete finishing ration for beef cattle. It has 20 percent cob.
Cattle are easy to start, keep on feed and gain rapidly on high-moisture ear corn.
Most modern harvesting machinery, however, is not equipped to pick the cob. Earlier summaries showed no improvement in feed value for high-moisture shelled corn. Results have been variable, but some recent studies have shown as much as 3 to 5 percent improvement in the value of the dry matter in high-moisture shelled corn for cattle. Rate of gain has been similar for cattle fed dry or high-moisture shelled corn. High-moisture storage has not improved the feed value of wheat for cattle in a limited number of trials.