Corn planter ???’s

[grassfarmer]

Have been curious to try some grazing corn too, locals who have tried it here and there aren't continuing. How do you find it for the cows cleaning it up and have you had much trouble with excess material the following spring? Do you move an electric wire every couple days or just give them the while field?

Does the high cost to grow make it up in feed over swath grazing oats and barley?

We've grazed in the past but will silage it this year to capture all the volume. Cleanup depends on the cows, but also on the varieties. Some of the Pioneer varieties are the worst I see - like expecting them to eat trees. If you get a decent crop you're going to have residue left over. That's a problem or a bonus depending on your viewpoint. It's done wonders for our soil worked in to build up organic matter - these slow decomposing stalks feed an army of worms and other soil critters. We balanced a ration by feeding alfalfa/grass silage along with the corn, boosts the protein, adds some moisture and mitigates the grain overload risk. Never given them more than a couple days worth at a time. You need good fences as they become like crack addicts for the cobs.
Potential for big tonnage from a small area is the attractive but we have never found the cost per day as low as many people claim. Like anything there are lots of bogus claims - the cow days/acre figures that are invented by dividing total tonnage by 35lbs/ day consumption with no allowance for wastage. Wildlife like it - dee, elk and particularly raccoons in our area do a lot of damage. Has done really well in this very dry season for us - I hear it said that roots can go 4 metres down if the need to access moisture.

[woodland]

Woodland, if you do decide on a planter whatever it is , I would consider looking at Blackbeans. The soybean disks work well and bean maturity is just a bit behind peas. They may work well for your area.
PM me if you want .

There’s a couple of soybean plots around Edmonton and I don’t see them replacing canola anytime soon this far west. We try to do one different thing/experiment every year just to change things up around here. The planter is next years excitement and figuring out how to do canola with it will probably be plenty. The following year if the corn works like we think there’ll be a bunch going in for silage as well. We’re losing some more ground in the next few years to the coal mine so we need to increase our productivity to maintain the cow herd numbers where they’re at.

New crops probably won’t be tinkered with for a while here but thanks for mentioning the black beans.

[woodland]

Have been curious to try some grazing corn too, locals who have tried it here and there aren't continuing. How do you find it for the cows cleaning it up and have you had much trouble with excess material the following spring? Do you move an electric wire every couple days or just give them the while field?

Does the high cost to grow make it up in feed over swath grazing oats and barley?

GDR we had great success and cleanup the first year when we grazed it early and the cobs weren’t mature. The next year we didn’t have much luck and we attribute it to the cobs matured and we didn’t graze it till later Nov//Dec and the leaves blew away so they ate the cobs and left the dried out stalks. A friend last year put in 50 acres and swathed it before it matured. He then moved in his pairs and left them there for 57 days without any cross fencing. He said they had to eat through the swath to get the cobs and the leaves didn’t disappear either.

The cross fencing and leaf loss was what turned us off of corn but i think the swathing and using free standing panels to divide off a week or so at a time should work. Currently using a 1/4 mile of panels to graze some pathetic late barley and two people can move them as quick as rolling up a string and moving posts I feel. The deer can make mess of temporary electric fences here so I think the panels are the way to go.

A dairy farm on a crop tour we were on says they average 9ton for barley silage and 18 ton for corn. I don’t think that it will be any cheaper than a cereal or alfalfa for producing cow chow but allow more head days off the same acre.

[GDR]

Thanks Grassfarmer and Woodland, may try some. Silage corn around here looks really good this year in comparison to cereals I thought. We don't usually get the heat units we did this year though.

[woodland]

Thanks for all the replies.

Grassfarmer I observed the same here where the cereals were burnt and pathetic while the corn across the fence was 8 feet tall setting cobs in the same type of ground. I agree about the feed waste or “future soil organic matter😉” and how it’s not an issue unless feed is crazy high like this year.

Looking forward to next year already. 🍀

[furrowtickler]

90% of the time corn will at least triple production per ac even in dry conditions if managed properly.

[grassfarmer]

Leaf loss was an issue for us last year too - one crazy windy day in late October and 80% of them were on the ground. I've heard a few guys that swath and graze it that way to reduce the cob picking - take one heck of a swather to handle it if it was a big crop. Saw a video of guys chopping corn here recently that was 14' tall in places and thick - would that go through a swather?
You must need more practice at cross fencing if you can move the panels quicker lol! At least with the panels they wouldn't break through or climb over if you get deep snow I guess.

[furrowtickler]

Leaf loss was an issue for us last year too - one crazy windy day in late October and 80% of them were on the ground. I've heard a few guys that swath and graze it that way to reduce the cob picking - take one heck of a swather to handle it if it was a big crop. Saw a video of guys chopping corn here recently that was 14' tall in places and thick - would that go through a swather?
You must need more practice at cross fencing if you can move the panels quicker lol! At least with the panels they wouldn't break through or climb over if you get deep snow I guess.

That wind did a lot of damage to corn everywhere here last year as well

[woodland]

Leaf loss was an issue for us last year too - one crazy windy day in late October and 80% of them were on the ground. I've heard a few guys that swath and graze it that way to reduce the cob picking - take one heck of a swather to handle it if it was a big crop. Saw a video of guys chopping corn here recently that was 14' tall in places and thick - would that go through a swather?
You must need more practice at cross fencing if you can move the panels quicker lol! At least with the panels they wouldn't break through or climb over if you get deep snow I guess.

You need a better tractor to move panels quicker😉. Nothing beats a versatile with a set of forks for visibility and maneuverability especially compared to a fwa. Those panels are one of the better things we bought and get used more than we thought.

I don’t have any luck with solar powered fencers. I’ve had them all die or act up whether it’s a cheap one or stafix and even Gallagher. 110V seems to be fine but any pasture without power is going back to barb wire.

I never seen the swaths or swather but it was a 30 foot and the corn was over 10 feet tall. The guy said they ran 4-5 mph and only made two beaver houses and the cows destroyed that evidence. I'm planning on seeing the swathing this year and if I do I’ll be sure to grab pictures.

[furrowtickler]

Were you putting down a little phos as a starter with the seed and just floating the rest on before seeding? Never used liquid fert before that’ll be a learning curve as well. Seems about half the planters I’m seeing come with liquid kits.

I’d have to get a vacuum planter to do canola wouldn’t I as fingers would only work on large seeds?

Sorry missed this one ..
yes we used liquid phos , well .. Alpine or Kugler either one works good. The rest can be floated on , NH3 or streamed on with liquid ... it all works .
Just get your soil prepared ahead of time before seeding ... that is critical in cooler areas such as yours. Direct seeding in cold soils is not a good idea at all .
Yes a vacuum planter is needed to seed canola properly .