Originally published Sepember 4, 2025 on RealAgriculture by RealAgriculture Agronomy Team.
Corn silage harvest goals don’t typically change from year to year — every September farmers look to optimize feed quality with timely harvesting of the crop at 30 to 40 per cent dry matter to ensure they get the highest energy level possible.
But what does change from season to season are growing conditions and how they impact silage quality and harvest strategies to optimize feed quality. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Corn School, PRIDE Seeds agronomist Olivia Noorenberghe looks at how the dry growing conditions experienced by many farmers in Ontario during the 2025 season can impact silage quality and how to manage harvest in stressed crops.
Noorenberghe notes that drought-stressed corn fields will produce reduced biomass, with lower overall tonnage due to stunted plant growth and reduced ear development. Farmers can also expect lower nutritional quality as less starch accumulation in the kernel reduces the energy content. Under drought conditions, reduced plant growth can also lead to a greater accumulation of nitrates in the plant, which can pose risks to livestock if not effectively managed.
In the video, Noorenberghe and host Bernard Tobin check out a field of corn silage that has seen limited rain throughout the growing season. In drought-stressed fields like this, she says farmers can still make good silage.
Noorenberghe notes the need to keep an eye on the milkline as it progresses to the optimum one-half to two-thirds mark, but it’s also important to be mindful of field variability. Whole plant analysis is one way to account for that variability. She recommends growers crop five to 10 stalks for chipping and lab analysis to get an accurate moisture reading.
Scouting may also reveal areas of the field that are more stressed than others. Noorenberghe says growers should consider chopping these areas earlier than the rest of the field. When it comes to chop height, she adds that stressed plants tend to have higher nitrate levels in the lower portions of the stalks. But farmers also need to remember that the plant overall is shorter and cutting higher will compromise tonnage. She notes that when the crop is ensiled, the process can reduce the nitrate load by 40 to 60 per cent, which can eliminate the need for higher chop height.
Learn more about corn production agronomy in this video series!