Some fields planted for grain will not mature adequately for optimum yield and quality, and growers may be looking at harvesting or selling some of those fields for silage. When harvesting a field of frost damaged corn for silage, keep in mind the importance of feed quality and animal performance. With lower quality haylage this year, putting up high quality corn silage is very important, particularly for high producing dairy cows. Silage Quality Slightly immature, frost damaged corn that has dented can make good silage.
Energy is partitioned differently in immature silage than in normal corn silage.
Immature corn has lower levels of kernel starch, but there are higher levels of untranslocated sugars in the stalk. These sugars are rapidly available and should be accounted for in ration formulation. Also, kernel texture and starch will be softer and more digestible. The fiber content will be higher, but it will be less lignified and more digestible than in mature silage. These differences make energy predictions difficult with routine laboratory analysis.