Plant health plays a critical role in optimizing forage quality. Unfortunately, for much of the U.S., our crop growing season is already off to a challenging start.

Where climate is adequate for its growth, corn silage is the main forage in intensive cattle production systems. Warm regions of the world usually allow for a double corn crop, thereby maximizing land use. In other regions with well-defined seasons, corn is harvested only once, leaving the land oftentimes fallow during the rest of the year.

We’ve seen the situation where perfectly good-looking silage was put up, following all harvest recommendations, at the right moisture and maturity, packing at the correct density and adding proper silo covering.

While producers are faced with their fair share of obstacles throughout the harvest season, downed corn can be one of the most challenging.

Dry matter (DM) can be defined as the remaining portion of a forage or feed after moisture has been removed by forced drying. DM determination is commonly performed in the laboratory, but because it is a very important parameter when making silages, hays, haylage and balancing livestock diets, it is also a common practice on dairy farms.