A Comparison of Early, Medium and Late Maturing Varieties of Silage Corn for Milk Production : A Report of Progress

Abstract

Summary 1. The experiment is an attempt to determine the relative economy of milk production by growing early, medium or late maturing varieties of corn for silage. 2. Late maturing varieties, under favorable conditions, will decidedly out-yield the early varieties, both in total tonnage and dry matter. 3. The varieties used to represent the three types were: Early (Pride of the North), 25.74 per cent dry matter in silage; medium (Leaming), 25.17 per cent dry matter in silage; late (Eureka), 19.43 dry matter in silage. The season allowed Leaming to mature more than usual, resulting in practically the same per cent of dry matter as Pride of the North and very similar results in the feeding tests. 4. The grain ration consisted of 3 parts corn meal, 3 parts wheat bran and 2 parts cotton seed meal (36 per cent) having a nutritive ratio of 1 to 3.805 and carrying 0.148 pound digestible protein and 0.7171 pound digestible nutrients per pound. 5. The early silage group of cows and the late group each contained two Holsteins and one Jersey and the medium group was comprised of one Jersey, one Guernsey and one Holstein. The object was especially to have the extreme groups evenly balanced throughout. 6. The feeding trial proper covered one hundred days. Thirty days preliminary feeding upon the regular herd silage and ten days upon the experimental silage preceded the experiment proper. 7. Two animals in each group received 50 pounds of silage daily, the third, of less capacity, receiving 40 pounds. The average consumption was 44.977 pounds for the early group, 45.739 for the medium group and 45.537 pounds for the late group. The dry matter furnished by the silage per day to the early group was 11.232 pounds, to the medium, 11.519 pounds, and to the late, 9.081 pounds. The hay consumed was 4 pounds each which was eaten without waste. 8. The grain was fed according to the weight of the animal, the object being to keep them at a uniform weight. By this plan most of the food was used for maintenance and production and a small, unappreciable amount for developing the fetus in early gestation. The average daily amount of grain consumed was 9.9725 pounds by the early group, 8.314 pounds by the medium, and 11.604 pounds by the late. 9. The average daily milk yield was 28.286, 22.938 and 29.206 pounds respectively, by the early, medium and late. The fat yield was 1.0878, 1.0455, and 1.0788 pounds, respectively. The total solids yield was 3.5769, 3.1578, and 3.5990 pounds respectively. 10. The early group averaged 1054.4 pounds in weight, and gained an average of 17.67 pounds; the medium group averaged 963.3 pounds and gained 2.33 pounds each; the late group averaged 1046.8 pounds and lost an average of 14 pounds. 11. The early group consumed 35.405 pounds of grain per 100 pounds of milk; the medium group consumed 35.816 pounds; and the late group 39.78 pounds. For total solids the early group consumed 2.752 pounds of grain to each pound produced; the medium group 2.593; and the late group 3.249. The better showing made by the medium group in solids production compared to the early is due to their lesser maintenance requirements. The relatively high grain requirement per unit of production for all of the groups is due to the small hay allowance. 12. The results show a saving for 100 pounds of milk of 4.37 pounds of grain for the early group as compared with the late group. Ton for ton, these data seem to indicate greater economy of the early silage. This is further emphasized by the fact that the early group gained some in weight and the late group lost slightly. The real test comes when the three types of corn are compared on an acre basis, or their efficiency in milk production per acre. The authors do not feel justified in making this comparison until a second feeding trial shall have been completed.