Originally written in 2012 by Dr. Bill Weiss, Professor and Dairy Extension Specialist, The Ohio State University and Dianne Shoemaker, Field Specialist, Dairy Production Economics, Ohio State University Extension.
Drought conditions have adversely affected corn.
Revised August 2024 by Dr. Maurice Eastridge, Professor and Dairy Extension Specialist, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University
With the limited rain in Ohio recently, corn development has been adversely impacted and physiological maturity accelerated. The extent of the drought varies by area of the State, but much of the southeastern area has been classified as severe to extreme drought (Drought Information | State Climate Office of Ohio (osu.edu)). Also within a farm, considerable variation in the corn growth may occur based on planting date and the drainage in the fields (corn on knolls and hills will dry quicker than corn in low areas). The key issues to address at this time are:
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- Dry matter (DM) content of the silage. The plant should not be harvested prior to reaching 30% DM and should be harvested before reaching 40% DM (30-32% for horizontal silos and 35 to 40% for upright silos). Water can be added to the silage during unloading, but intercellular plant water is more effective in the silage preservation than surface applied water.
- Nitrate concentrations. During drought conditions, the corn will take up nitrate from the soil and accumulate it in the lower portion of the plant until it is metabolized by the plant for protein. The nitrate concentration will vary based on N application, timing of the N application based on before or after a cover crop, severity of the dry conditions, variation in drainage within fields, and chop height of the plants (higher chop height reduces nitrate concentration). Being safe is better than being sorry – collect a representative sample of the corn and send it to a lab for analysis.
Other questions include . . .
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