Who needs more N? Comparing corn grown for grain vs. corn for silage

Transcript:

Announcer:

It’s time for the AFREC Spotlight, the Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council. Joining us University of Minnesota researcher and soil scientist Jeff Vetsch.

Jeff, does corn forest silage need more nitrogen or less nitrogen than corn for grain?

Jeff Vetsch:

Yeah, we’ve had a three year well, it’s now in its fourth year study here at Waseca where we’re looking at the nitrogen losses and tile drainage and comparing the difference between corn grown for grain and corn grown for corn silage.

And then the corn silage treatments, we’re also looking at some cover crop treatments after the silage is harvested. And not surprisingly, what we found was that it does appear that corn grain does need more nitrogen than corn grown for silage. And it’s been about 30 to 40 pounds less when you grow silage than it is for corn grain.

Our current N recommendations for continuous corn are 170 to 200 pounds of N per acre, somewhere in there. So I think when you’re growing corn silage, can probably on the lower side of that one seventy to one eighty, and then I think if you’re looking at corn for grain, you’re probably closer to that 200, at least here in South Central Minnesota.

As you move west, you can probably get by with less than that.

Announcer:

University of Minnesota researcher and soil scientist Jeff Vetsch. Visit mnsoilfertility.com.