Corn Stover Harvesting Kevin Gould, MSU Extension Livestock BEEF Educator BRIEF Reprinted from Cattle Call, 2007, Vol 12, Iss 2

How much easily result from extra wheel traffic stover is on excessively wet soils. Stover produced in a moisture content greater than 30% typical corn would likely decrease the efficiency of field? the baling operation, and also decrease Corn grain the storability of the bales due to accounts for increased risk of molding and rotting. about 45% of the total dry matter yield Corn stover material will generally of a corn field. Corn stover amounts cause greater wear and tear on would range from 3 to 4.5 dry tons per harvesting equipment than alfalfa and acre in fields ranging from 100 to 150 grass hay. bushels of grain per acre. Dry ton means exactly that; 2000 lb of totally What is the approximate value of dry stover. You can convert wet weight stover nutrients removed/acre? to dry weight by multiplying the wet The approximate amounts of nitrogen, weight by the percent dry matter. If phosphate, and potash removed per dry 60% of the stover would be harvested, ton of harvested corn stover are 13.6, then amounts would range from 1.8 to 3.6, and 19.7 lb, respectively. The 2.7 dry tons per acre depending on approximate value of the nitrogen, grain yield level. phosphate, and potash per dry ton of harvested corn stover is $9.85, $1.33, What are the risks involved with corn and $4.33 (based on $0.50, $0.37, and stover harvest? $0.22 per lb of nitrogen, phosphate, The estimated harvest window to and potash fertilizers), for a total shred, windrow, and bale corn stover nutrient value of $15.48 per dry ton. If will be about 30 days after corn grain harvested stover amounts ranged from harvest, after which weather and soil 1.8 to 2.7 dry tons, then the total value conditions are often not conducive to of the nutrients removed from the field field traffic and stover harvest. Wet would range from about $28 to $42 per weather and muddy fields during and acre. after grain harvest would delay or prevent stover harvest. This is Is any pre-harvest operation, such as especially critical given the likely windrowing, necessary? dependency on the schedules of custom Quite often the stover will need to be operators who will be responsible for cut with a rotary hay cutter and raked shredding/windrowing/baling the corn with a double rake prior to harvesting. stover. Soil compaction and ruts can A combination flail chopper/windrower

could also be used. When harvesting stalk, leaf, cob and husk. Table 1 corn, turn off or remove the chaff indicates the dry matter distribution in spreader on the combine. By corn residue at or immediately windrowing the top half of the plant, following corn harvest. Note the stalk bailing may be accomplished without contains the highest level of moisture additional rotary cutting. Raking may and is one-half of the dry matter still be necessary to dry the stover weight of the total residue material. before baling. This method reduces overall yield but increases forage quality. Keep in mind that the tire traffic of the grain harvest operation (combine, grain carts, trucks, etc.) will make some percentage of the stover very difficult to harvest. Table 2 indicates the average What is the optimum stover moisture composition of corn residue and corn content for harvest? residue silage. Stover moisture content should probably not exceed 30% for optimum harvesting. Target 25% moisture or lower for baled corn stover. As a rule of thumb, moisture content of stover is twice that of the grain. For example, the moisture content of stover when you harvest grain at 15% moisture would be about 30% moisture. Feeding crop residues can be more What type and size of package (bales, challenging with wasted feed, stacks) are desired? nutritional deficiencies and palatability The most feasible package would likely issues. Whenever possible, graze corn be 1-ton bales measuring 4x4x8 ft. Such stover to reduce overall harvest cost. bales are relatively high density, solid, Contact your local MSU Extension and suitable for transport on a flatbed Livestock Educator for information on semi-trailer. Net wrapped round bales crop residue feeding for your cattle in the 6’ size range with 3 wraps of net operation. wrap work well, but are more difficult to transport. Other possibilities Adapted from: Ohio State University include large round bales (1/2 ton Extension “Harvesting Corn Residue” bales) or stacks (1/2 to 1 ton stacks). AGF-003-92. Consider ammoniating bales to increase forage quality and reduce spoilage.

What are the characteristics of corn stover? Approximately 50% of the weight of the total corn plant is residue, consisting of

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