As farmers throughout the Northeast have been waiting less than patiently for rain, some areas have finally gotten some long-overdue moisture. But is late-season rain enough to salvage a corn silage crop?
Dr. John Goeser, adjunct professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison Animal & Dairy Science, recently addressed the nationwide corn silage harvest with a focus on areas of drought in Pennsylvania, New York and New England.
“Growing corn for silage this year might be enough to make some folks lose their hair,” said Goeser. “We’re in the grain filling period, but there’s a lot to play out in the season.”
Corn silage will continue to contribute $2 to $3/cwt. to a dairy farm’s bottom line in feed costs. Silage is a huge component of feed costs, and that fact should be all that’s needed as an economic incentive to improve forage quality and yield to optimize per-acre digestible nutrients.
“We want to continue focusing on the aspects of our business, especially high-quality feed, to find ways to improve feed conversion efficiency and add more profitability to our bottom line,” said Goeser. Caring for pre-harvest corn silage includes walking fields to monitor insect activity and managing late season insect pressure.
Fiber digestibility is dependent on factors including seed genetics, plant population and soil fertility. Agronomic practices and crop protection keep the plant and leaf tissue green and healthy up to harvest.
“We talk a lot about fiber digestibility in corn silage, and it’s an important attribute,” said Goeser. “It relates to energy value and intake potential. Corn silage with much lower lignin content relates to higher intake potential. Starch and grain drive the majority of energy value of the whole silage, and especially the carbohydrate fraction.”
He urged farmers to consider the starchy component of corn silage in terms of the growing season, but the harvest process, including optimizing the kernel processing score, and starch digestibility are also important.
Digestibility and feed value can be influenced by chopping corn higher. Adjusting chopper height eight, 10 or 12 inches higher increases dry matter and decreases moisture.
New York and New England started 2025 with excessive rainfall, resulting in a delayed start to the season. In some areas, the first hay crop wasn’t made until mid to late June, which forced farmers to change corn planting schedules.
Although many acres of corn were planted following adequate moisture, recent drought conditions are challenging farmers. “When we eventually got corn planted, the soil was wet with plenty of moisture so the roots didn’t need to go deep, or couldn’t go deep due to excess moisture,” said Goeser. “Then it dried out and we wanted roots to go deeper to lower subsoil moisture. Farmers found themselves in tough conditions for the crop.”
There have been serious concerns regarding the potential for corn to reach the finish line along Lake Ontario, where moisture has been especially scarce.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires has affected parts of New York State, which has resulted in slower hay and haylage dry down in some areas. Smoke means less light for photosynthesis, and Goeser suggested discussing with the farm agronomist how plant growth and morphology is influenced in smoky situations.
For farmers facing a short harvest window this year, Goeser said, “We don’t want the crop drying down faster than we can get it out of the fields. If we will have 10 to 15 days for the harvest window based on when we planted and relative maturity, if we lose even three or four days, we’re looking at trying to get 15 days’ work done in ten to 12 days, barring any breakdowns.”
With extreme drought, the area to pay attention to on the corn plant is the ear leaf. “It’s the leaf on the corn plant directly beneath the ear – the leaf that signals the plant still has a chance,” he said. “If the leaf is still green, the plant has a chance. Let the plant continue to grow and hope we get some rainfall.”
If the ear leaf starts to die off, Goeser suggested working with an agronomist to determine whether corn should be harvested prior to ear development.
Widespread planting dates mean widespread harvest dates, especially for corn planted over several weeks, or in some cases, replanted. “It’s going to create some tricky situations, especially where we have two distinct harvest windows,” said Goeser. “Managing through harvest will be more problematic.”
Drought conditions sometimes force farmers to harvest immature corn silage. Nitrate levels will be a consideration. In some areas, local grain farmers who expect lower than optimal grain yield might be willing to sell their crop for silage, but moisture level at harvest is still critical.
“Moisture is increasingly important for immature corn,” said Goeser. “We don’t want to take immature corn from the field at 70% to 72% moisture. That creates a fermentation nightmare. Use a preservative or inoculant and good fermentation practices in terms of packing and sealing to keep air out. It should pack well, but I’d rather see 68% to 65% moisture on that kind of corn.”
Despite dry late-season conditions, farmers should be able to cover forage needs. “We’ll need to balance around some sub-standard haylage, but we can make it work,” he said. “Maybe we can feed traditional high forage diets as we’ve long been able to in the Northeast, but we’ll have to cut forage back considerably.”
Other options include purchased feeds such as soy hulls, which are not overly expensive right now due to depressed commodity markets.
Proactive communication with all involved in silage harvest will be critical this year. “Work with your agronomist and harvest crew as harvest approaches to ensure the best quality silage in a challenging year,” said Goeser. “We need to work as a team for feed this year.”
