In more than 30 years of research, we have developed winter forage from a 1.5- to 2-ton afterthought to a key forage crop of 4-6 tons of dry matter crop. The key is following these critical steps:

Plant early. This has been the biggest factor in moving New York from 2-tons-dry-matter to 4-tons-dry-matter-an-acre yields. The earlier you plant, the more tillers. The more tillers, the more yield potential next spring.

It should go into the winter 8 to 12 inches tall. This means shortening the season length of the corn silage you planted. Going from 105-day corn to 85-day corn will reduce silage by an average of 3 tons, but you are replacing that with 6 to 12 tons of flag leaf winter triticale forage that has more milk-producing ability than the corn you gave up.

We have found that shorter-season corn yields are rivaling longer-season corn because of the greatly improved soil health and structure.

Choose the right seed. We do not suggest rye as the nitrogen necessary to get to 18% crude protein will lead to rye lying flat on the ground. Winter triticale was still standing in our replicated research.

Do not plant a mix of rye and winter triticale. The rye will be ready before the triticale, and you will lose a lot of yield harvesting rye on time but triticale too early. On the other hand, if you wait for the triticale to reach flag leaf, you will have high-quality triticale mixed with rye straw. Not a good move.

The good news is there are triticale varieties out there that are ready as soon as rye in the spring.

Plant at the right rate. Replicated research has found that 1.2 million seeds per acre, or about 100 pounds per acre, will optimize yield. Contrary to old farmer tales, more seeds do not make up for later planting. It only increases your seed cost.

A definite moneymaking move is to get seed treated with a three-way treatment such as Dividend Extreme. High-yield wheat growers use this all the time. Our replicated research on winter triticale found a 15% yield increase from treating the seed if planted on time, and a 28% increase compared to none if you planted late. This more than pays for the slight increase in seed cost.

Apply nitrogen at planting. Plant with a minimum of 60 pounds N, plus sulfur at planting. Our research has found that this will significantly increase the number of tillers.

Do not delay planting to apply manure. You lose more yield than you gain with manure fertilizer savings. Every day is critical in fall to maximize the crop through tillering.

We have found that injecting manure in November, December or January — while the soil is cold — can unload a lot of manure storage in an environmentally sound manner. It can meet all the nitrogen and sulfur needs the next spring for a high-protein crop.

The ammonia in the manure stays in that form as long as the soil is below 50 degrees F and is not lost. In the spring, the triticale starts growing at 40 degrees and immediately takes up the N as the manure releases it.

We have successfully used a rolling coulter applicator. It slices and lifts the soil, and injects the manure. The closing coulter then pushes the lifted sod back down. It is better than knife injectors that tear the sod and bring up stones. It is also better than units that lay the manure in narrow strips, which are still vulnerable to volatilization and erosion loss.

Do not spread manure on top of the crop. You will harvest manure and high-quality forage that can kill cows.

Adjust for immature corn. If you have corn that is not going to make an ear and may only reach tassel stage by the end of September, adjustments in management will be critical.

Cutting high does not increase the feed value of immature corn. You need all the forage you can get, so drop the head to cut as low as possible. As there are no ears or only milk stage, processing is a waste of fuel and time.

In addition, I don’t suggest cranking the processor down like you would with normal corn silage, or you may turn it all to applesauce. Immature corn silage can have low neutral detergent fiber, but with very high NDF digestibility. Thus, it is a lot like an immature or male sterile sorghum, but with a lot of feed value except lower yield.

Harvesting immature wet silage has some adjustments. Sorghum-sudangrass, sudangrass, and immature or tassel corn will be wetter and have higher sugar. As the digestibility of the fiber is higher, the length of cut can be longer.

This has two effects. First, the physically effective NDF will ensure the extent of digestion needed with your limited forage, and it will also keep the rumen pH and health where it is supposed to be. Second, with fewer cuts per inch, the length of cut can be 1 inch to reduce or eliminate leachate from packing, yet maintain peNDF.

A farmer I know with brown midrib sorghum and corn silage cut the wetter sorghum at the suggested 1 inch and the corn at three-quarters inch. Both looked the same, and both had no leachate. When he sampled, the corn silage was 35% dry matter, while the sorghum was 23% dry matter.

If your crops haven’t developed an ear, the wetter, high-sugar forage must have a homolactic inoculant. Do not use a buchneri-type inoculant.

In one of my sorghum trials, the inoculated treatment had higher NDF 30 digestibility equal to 2.3 more pounds of milk per cow per day compared to no inoculant. If you are short on forage, taking all the steps to maximize the use in the rumen is critical.

Kilcer is a certified crop adviser in Rutledge, Tenn., formerly of Kinderhook, N.Y.