In the studies, dairy cows ate so much more tropical corn silage that their milk production increased 10 to 20 percent over sorghum. Silage is a fermented, moist feed for wintertime. Tropical corn silage also appealed to steers. Tests of its nutritional value showed it to be slightly less digestible than forage-type sorghum. N.C. Farmers usually plant sorghum when it gets too wet or too late in the season to plant temperate corn.
Tropical corn is a good alternative because it grows well in heat and tolerates insects well.
Tropical corn works best in the southern United States, where long days and a long growing season substitute for its native climate. Farmers would make and store tropical corn silage in October. In the corn stubble, they'd plant winter wheat or barley for ensiling late the following spring. Alternating tropical corn and the winter crop would protect the ground from erosion and give cows two quality feeds. ARS plans to work with a university economist to see if this approach would produce extra money for farmers.