It’s always long, hot day when many of us agents come together to help plant and harvest the Brooks County Silage Variety trials. I went to help them harvest a few weeks ago. County Agents Ben Shirley and Stephanie Hollifield did a great job coordinating the harvest. Ben and intern, Meghan were in the field cutting silage. Stephanie was in the weigh house taking tonnage. Lowndes County Agent Mihasha Dowdy and I were in ‘the pit’ collecting silage samples which are sent to receive milk producing capabilities. Below is the data shared by Brooks County Agent Ben Shirley on their Brooks County Ag Connection blog I wanted to pass along.
I want to share results obtained from the Brooks County 2016 Corn Silage Variety trial. We planted this trial on April 25th and harvested 14 weeks later on July 27th. This year’s trial included 69 replications, 23 varieties replicated three times each. There were no significant differences in yield among planted varieties. The varieties are ranked according to two different parameters, lbs. of milk/acre and green tons @35% moisture/acre. We conduct this trial annually, in order to assist our Dairymen and growers with variety selection and planting decisions pertaining to silage production. We would like to thank our cooperators, sponsors, and seed companies for their support and assistance. All data collected is available at (the Brooks County) office, please call or e-mail us if you would like additional copies or if you have any questions. Also, I have provided a link to view the data in its entirety.
Note* Keep in mind no significant differences were found between the varieties; ranking of varieties is from highest to lowest only.
Note* DKC67-88 only replicated 2 times, all others replicated 3 times.
Our view from the pit.
Lowndes County Agent Mihasha Dowdy collects a silage sample
Thomas County Ag 