Source: Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistics Service. Pennsylvania silage production 1 from 1970 to 2002. Silage systems are also more mechanized and less labor-intensive than dry hay systems, which can increase labor productivity. Combining various crops, such as grasses, legumes, and corn, can spread labor and management demands over the entire cropping season. Timing of harvest and scheduling of labor can be extended by planting crop varieties of differing maturities. Small grains and other annuals such as sorghum-sudan hybrids also may be harvested as silage or grain. Producers can decide late in the growing season how much corn to harvest as silage or as grain. Losses from ear dropping and grain shattering that occur during corn silage harvest are lower than those occurring during grain harvest. ![]() Reduced field lossesĭirect-cutting of hay-crop silages avoids extended weather damage and leaf shattering even wilting hay-crop silages may result in reduced losses when compared to dry hay. Both alfalfa and grass usually provide more energy and protein when harvested as silage than as hay. Of the feed crops adapted to Pennsylvania, corn harvested as silage yields the greatest quantities of energy per acre, and alfalfa produces the greatest quantities of protein per acre. Advantages of silage Relative nutrient yield The information in this article should enable you to make more effective decisions about harvesting, managing, and feeding silage. ![]() High-level management and sizeable financial outlays are necessary to efficiently produce, harvest, store, and feed silage. Silage can also reduce labor needs through greater mechanization of harvesting and feeding. ![]() Forage production, harvest, storage, and feed practices have changed greatly over the past 50 years in Pennsylvania, and silage has become a staple forage, as shown in Table 1.Ĭompared to hay production, silage increases the potential yield of nutrients from available land, decreases feed costs, lowers harvest losses, and often increases forage quality. Feeding adequate quantities of high-quality forages is the basis of profitable milk and livestock production.
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