One option for harvesting and storing corn is turning it into earlage, which ultimately will be used for cattle feed.

“Earlage, which is ensiled corn grain, cobs and, in some cases, husks, is higher in energy than corn silage with similar protein content,” says Greg Lardy, North Dakota State University Extension Service beef cattle specialist. “It’s lower in energy than corn grain because it includes the husk and cob, but it works well in a variety of cattle diets, including growing and finishing diets for beef cattle and feed for lactating dairy cows.”

Good silage-making principles apply when harvesting earlage. Producers who want to make good-quality earlage should follow two guidelines:

• Make sure the crop’s moisture content is correct before chopping. Lardy said 60 percent to 65 percent dry matter, with 35 percent to 40 percent moisture, is best.
• Exclude oxygen. As with any silage, if the material isn’t packed properly and sealed, oxygen will penetrate, which will result in excess spoilage and poor-quality fermentation. Be sure to cover the earlage pile with plastic to prevent oxygen penetration.

Excess seepage is possible if moisture levels are too high, which will result in poor-quality fermentation and nutrient loss. Earlage that’s too dry is difficult to pack, which will lead to excessive spoilage.

Earlage can be harvested in several ways. The most common is to use a snapper head on a forage harvester so that just the ear, cob and husk are harvested. Another option is to use an all-crop head and take the upper one-third of the stalk along with all ears. The second option will produce more tonnage, but the energy content will be lower due to the inclusion of the stalk.

Most major forage harvesting equipment manufacturers offer special heads for earlage.

“The key is to have a header that takes the ear (cob, grain and husk),” Lardy says.

Many custom forage chopping operations will have access to the equipment to produce good-quality earlage. Producers also have reported using conventional combines to produce earlage by setting the machines to break up the cob and return it to the grain tank. Some adjustments to the unloading auger may be necessary to allow the bulkier material to be unloaded from the hopper.

For more information, contact Lardy at (701) 231-7660 or mailto:gregory.lardy@ndsu.edu.

NDSU Agriculture Communication