On a dry matter basis, its nutritive value equals that of immature field corn. When whole plant sweet corn silage is allowed to mature before ensiling, its feed value equals that of dent corn with similar ear-stover ratios. Sweet corn whole plant yields are typically lower than dent corn. High-oil corn has greater energy than normal corn because the calorie content of oil is approximately 2.5 times as great as that of carbohydrates. Feeding trials show greater dry matter intake, but lower digestibility when compared to silage of normal dent corn.
Yield is usually lower in hybrids with elevated oil levels.
This method involves using between 3 to 8 percent of the plants as pollinators, while the remaining 92 to 97 percent of the plants are high performing male-sterile hybrids. The high oil trait is transferred by the pollen to the kernel via a xenia effect. No university tests have been published on agronomic performance of these new top-cross high oil corn hybrids. General conclusions are that these types are unacceptable for corn silage purposes because of poor whole plant and grain yield. Opaque-2 mutants of corn have elevated levels of lysine and tryptophan.