Derechos, hail, drought and mounting disease pressure have all exposed weak points in conventional tall corn silage systems. Short stature corn, hybrids bred to stand roughly one-third shorter than conventional corn while carrying the same leaf number, has been promoted as a more stable option. The obvious questions for silage producers are whether that shorter plant still puts enough tonnage in the pile, and whether the feed is any good.
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Shelby Gruss is a forage specialist for Iowa State University-Extension, and Courtney Harle is a graduate student at Iowa State University.
