There are several counties in central Kansas where cornfields were extremely stressed by drought and a July heat wave that saw nine days above 100 degrees F and four more that topped 95.

“Those fields are good candidates to chop now for silage before they dry down too much,” says Jim Henry, western forages marketing manager with Mycogen Seeds. “You want silage to be no more than 30% to 35% dry matter to assure fermentation.”

Farmers with drought-stressed corn can capture as high as 80% of traditional silage value if they harvest as soon as they realize it won’t be making much grain.

Sue Schulte, communications director with the Kansas Corn Growers Association, says that reports of severe drought stress have not been extensive this year, but scattered areas are showing severe damage.

“Every year, we have drought somewhere in Kansas,” she says. “Most years, it is spotty like this year, but it is almost always there.”

August rain in much of the drought-stressed area means those damaged plants will be taking up nitrogen still in the soil, however, so those farmers chopping stressed fields days to a couple of weeks after rain should be aware of the danger of nitrate concentration in the bottom 12 inches of the stalk.

“You should leave that last 12 inches in the field,” Henry says. “And as you store the silage, you should test for nitrates and make sure that levels are acceptable for feeding.”

Henry says farmers also need to follow the best practices of ensiling the stressed corn, including chopping it in ¾-inch pieces, storing it separately and testing for nitrates. What you should not do, he says, is leave it standing in the field once you have ascertained that it is not going to make enough grain to harvest.

“Farmers should be checking with neighbors if they don’t have a use for their silage,” Henry says. “If you don’t have grain to sell, you still have something you can market to some advantage.”

In recent years, with an increase in dairy production in Kansas, more and more farmers are turning to growing hybrids specifically for silage production. Mycogen’s brown midrib is specially bred for high digestibility for dairy cows, he says.

“Farmers grow BMR hybrid as a high-end feed with the potential to produce more milk per pound of feed,” he says.

Another hybrid, TMF, is bred for high tonnage production. “This is ideal for growers who are producing to sell to a feedlot and want high volume,” Henry says.

The third hybrid in Mycogen’s top three is dual purpose, he says, and can be used for either silage or No. 2 yellow dent.

The bottom line for growers, Henry says, is to remember that the best results come from taking advantage of the three variables in corn production: genetics, environment and management.

“Harvest results begin the day you pick out the seed,” he says. “Corn breeders have made great strides in genetics. Environment we really can’t control, but the final variable, management, that’s where decision-making is everything, and it starts with seed choice. Seed treatments, fungicide applications, fertilizer applications, they all go toward the bottom line.”