Raising Corn & Feeding Corn

Yesterday I was gone, working on a flooring project for my parents.  Bruce spent his day doing some crop planning for spring.  Our seed was ordered last December but now he has the fertilizer (nitrogen) needs figured out also.   We need to buy commercial nitrogen fertilizer to supplement the natural forms we have available on the farm.  The process we use to figure out how much we need goes something like this.  Example:  Yield potential of our soils is approximately 150-200 bushels of corn per acre.  Rule of thumb is 1# or unit of nitrogen (N) required per bushel of corn grain produced, so for 160 bu. corn you need about 160 units of N.  The sources of N that we have available are manure, legumes (alfalfa, clover, soybeans), and commercial fertilizer (urea, anhydrous ammonia, 28% nitrogen).  A good alfalfa crop puts into the soil approximately 150 units of N, so in the first year of corn following alfalfa, we don't need to apply any extra.  In the 2nd year of corn, we have 50 units of N that has again become available from the alfalfa crop.  If we apply manure at 30 tons per acre, it supplies about 90# of N (3# per ton), so in the 2nd year, to get our 160# we need to apply 20# of N per acre.  In the 3rd year of corn we have no credits left over from legumes.  One pound of N per ton left over from last years manure, which gives us 30# of N.  If we again spread 30 tons of manure per acre, it supplies about 90# of N (3# per ton) for a total of 120# of N available.  For this crop we need to add another 40# of N to get our 160# of N per acre.  In any given year we have all 3 of these scenarios taking place so we need to figure out what the circumstances are for each field, and treat them accordingly.  Nitrogen, being upwards of 60 cents per pound, is too expensive to waste.  On the other hand, if you get a $5.50 bushel of corn in return for a 60 cent pound of nitrogen it's a good investment.  This is why it's worth while to figure out exactly what you need.  If it's over applied it is wasted and can be an environmental threat, if it is under applied we loose yield and therefore money.  If we put on more than we need it is wasted money.  Thus, we give it careful thought.

The rest of the day was spent doing the routine stuff.  My project went extra late so he ended up feeding, milking and then feeding calves alone also.  Not exactly a short day but everyone survived.

Since we would like to get more animals out of the barn soon Bruce changed the way he feeds that particular group. Currently they are fed a TMR but today he fed them straight haylage, which is what they will get in a feed box, and then sprinkled the shell corn across the top of it so they get used to eating this way.  During the winter Bruce fills 5 gallon pails with corn that has been processed through the roller mill.  Ed comes and gets 9 pails of corn and 2 pails of soybean meal for those animals in his yard.  He sprinkles this on the haylage in the bunk  Bruce also feeds the heifers here 6 pails of corn and 1 pail of soybean meal.  The goats get 6 pails of the milk cow TMR mix also.  So while the feed is mixing in the morning Bruce has been filling the corn and soybean meal pails.  After milking he fills the pails for the goats with feed he has put in a pile when he fed earlier.  The pails for the goats and animals here get hauled to the buildings in the skid steer bucket.  They need the extra energy and protein that corn and soybean meal provide, especially now that it is cold.  Other events for the day were Joe coming to check out some details on using tractors and their maintenance.  He helped us last summer and is currently taking tractor safety so we are glad to help since his family doesn't own tractors.  Bruce also bedded the pens today.  For a bit of Sunday entertainment he checked out Craig's list and happened to find someone looking for some barn identification boards that I have been wanting to disappear from here for years.  It might be this guys lucky day....I definitely feel like its ours!