Contents
Corn for silage allows you to get feed for farm animals. The growing process includes a number of stages: soil preparation, variety selection, seedling care. After harvesting, it is important to ensure proper storage of products.
What is corn silage
Corn is an annual plant that forms large cobs. One of the options for using the culture is to obtain silage. So called juicy food for animals and birds. Corn silage has a positive effect on the milk productivity of cows and promotes the growth of muscle mass in cattle.
Ensiling corn involves grinding plants. Then the resulting mass is preserved without air access. The silage differs in nutritious properties and the high content of vitamins. The product promotes digestion and helps to assimilate other feeds. Silage is stored in special pits or trenches.
The quality of corn silage is affected by various factors:
- landing time;
- sowing rate for a certain area;
- use of herbicides;
- dimensions after shredding;
- starch and fiber content.
The best predecessors for silage corn
Before planting corn, it is important to choose a suitable place for it. Pay attention to the crops that grew on the site. The best predecessors for corn are potatoes, cabbage, zucchini, beets, tomatoes, cucumbers.
Advice! Poor predecessors for corn are millet, sorghum, sugar beets and sunflowers. These plants have common diseases and significantly deplete the soil.
It is allowed to plant corn in one area for several years in a row. However, such actions lead to soil depletion. Therefore, the fields provide constant irrigation and the flow of minerals. It is best to change the place of cultivation of the crop. Re-planting is possible after 2 – 3 years.
Choice of corn varieties for silage
For planting, choose varieties that ripen well and contain a maximum of dry matter. Breeders have bred hydrides that are designed to produce silage. Planting of universal varieties is allowed. For the middle lane, early ripe and medium early corn are best suited. In more northern regions, only early hybrids are planted.
The best varieties for growing for silage:
- Voronezh 158 St. The hybrid is used in the Central region, the Volga region and Siberia. Ripening early. The plant is tall, forms cobs of medium length. The yield of corn for silage is up to 73 q/ha. The variety is resistant to fungal diseases;
- Voronezhsky 230 St. Medium-early hybrid, recommended for planting in the middle lane. Cobs of medium size, grains of intermediate type. Maximum yield – 87 kg / ha;
- Cascade 195 SV. Early ripening corn, recommended for the Volga and Chernozem regions. Plants are tall, form ears of medium size. The crop is harvested early;
- Baxita. The hybrid is recommended for cultivation in the North-West, in the Chernozem region, the Volga region, Western Siberia. Ripening is early. Plant of medium height with short cobs. Best of all, the variety shows its properties in the Perm Territory, Lipetsk and Kaliningrad Regions.
Terms of planting corn for silage
Corn is planted in the spring when the soil warms up well. The optimum temperature at a depth of 10 cm is +12 °C. If the variety is cold-resistant, then an earlier planting is allowed when the temperature indicator reaches +8 ° С. Usually this is the period from May to mid-June.
Spring cooling does not affect seedlings if the sprout point is preserved. If you plant corn later, then there is a high risk of reduced yields.
Preparing the seeds for planting
To improve the germination of corn, its seeds are processed. Usually this procedure is performed in factories. As a result, planting material meets the requirements established by the standard.
First, the seeds are dried until the moisture value reaches 12%. Then healthy material without stains and other defects is selected. The next stage is etching in a solution of potassium permanganate or another preparation. Its purpose is to disinfect seeds, eliminate pathogens and insect larvae.
Seeds for silage are heated in the sun for 3-4 days. At night they are covered with a tarpaulin or cleaned in a dry room. Immediately before planting, the corn is soaked in water for 12 hours. Such material sprouts faster.
Soil preparation
For corn for silage, fertile soil is used, which passes moisture and air well. Suitable sandy, loamy lands, peat bogs. Soil preparation begins in the fall. The site is dug up and cleared of weeds. Be sure to bring rotted manure.
Advice! Instead of natural fertilizers, mineral complexes containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are also used.
If the earth is clayey, then in the spring it is loosened. Additionally, sawdust or straw is added. In the fields, pre-sowing treatment is carried out using cultivators with rollers or harrows.
Corn silage planting density
Corn is planted in rows for silage. A distance of 70 cm is left between them. The seed consumption rate is 60 thousand per 1 ha. On average, from 15 to 30 kg of seeds are required for the indicated area.
The planting pattern depends on how well the soil is provided with moisture. It is allowed to reduce the distance between rows with corn. In this case, 50-70 cm are left between plants.
Rules for sowing silage corn
Corn seeds for silage are planted to a depth of 3 to 8 cm, in heavy soil – 5 cm, in sandy soil – 8 cm. The planting depth is chosen depending on climatic conditions and humidity in the upper soil layer.
Pneumatic seeders are used in the fields for planting. When the unit is started, the fan comes into action. As a result, air is forced into the seeding module and the distribution disc starts to rotate. Seeds are fed through special openings. When the seeder is working, furrows are also formed.
How to care for corn crops
Care for silage corn includes watering, top dressing, protection from weeds, diseases and pests. At the beginning of the growing season, plantings rarely suffer from a lack of moisture. Until the period when the intensive development of the stem begins, the corn does not need watering. At this time, the accumulation of dry matter occurs.
If the region receives less than 80 mm of precipitation, then additional irrigation is required. The culture does not tolerate excess moisture in the soil. With an increase in humidity, plant growth stops, and its leaves acquire a purple hue.
The watering rate per plant is from 1 to 2 liters of water. After making moisture, it is recommended to loosen the soil. With a lack of oxygen, the development of the cobs worsens.
fertilizers
Minerals have a positive effect on the growth of corn. At first, plants develop slowly. The root system is not yet strong enough to use fertilizers applied in the fall. When growing for silage, it is important to ensure the supply of nutrients to the corn. They are necessary for the formation of the stem.
To obtain high-quality silage, plantings are fed according to the scheme:
- when the 3rd sheet is formed, slurry is introduced;
- for subsequent treatments, a mineral solution is prepared: 20 g of ammonium nitrate, 15 g of potassium salt and 30 g of superphosphate per 10 liters of water.
Additionally, the plants are sprayed with a solution of zinc sulfate. For 400 liters of water, 300 g of fertilizer is required. This amount is enough to process 1 ha.
Herbicides
Weeds cause a decrease in yield, the appearance of diseases and pests. To combat them, special preparations are used – herbicides Erodikan, Aurorex, Reglon. Up to 1 liters of the substance is required per 10 ha of soil. They are embedded in the soil before planting corn for silage.
When shoots appear, herbicides Adengo, Burbin, Luvar are used. Consumption is 2 liters per 1 ha. Between treatments make a gap of 2 months.
Pest and disease control
Corn planted for silage can be seriously affected by diseases and pests. The culture suffers from powdery mildew, blister smut, fusarium, and rust. When signs of disease appear, treatments are performed with Optimo or Privent preparations. Against the meadow moth, juice and oat fly, insecticides Force or Karate are used.
Harvest
Corn is harvested for silage when the grains reach milky-wax maturity. When pressed on the cobs, a thick mass and a whitish liquid are released. Plants are mowed using special equipment. First, the cobs are removed, and then proceed to the stems. They are cut at a height of 15 cm from the soil surface.
Corn silage storage
Shredded corn cobs in silage are kept in special storages or trenches. The mass is laid in layers 80 cm thick. Phytoncides must be added, which do not allow butyric acid to be released. They perform the functions of a disinfectant and ensure the fermentation of silage.
After laying the silo is covered with two layers of film. A weight is placed on top to squeeze out air. The minimum fermentation period is 3 weeks. Ready silage is harvested in layers 30 cm thick.
Conclusion
Corn for silage is a valuable product that is used in animal husbandry. It is grown on prepared soils. During the growing season, plantings are provided with care: top dressing, protection from pests and diseases.
