COMPARATIVE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF SILAGES MADE FROM HIGH-SUGAR MALE STERILE HYBRID CORN AND REGULAR STARCHY CORN

Comparable seedings of high-sugar male sterile hybrid seed corn and of typical starchy dent corn were made in May, 1967. The starchy dent corn was harvested for silage in late September and that from the high-sugar corn in late October, based on apparent optimal times of harvest. Under equal rates of seeding (56,800 seeds per hectare) high-sugar corn yielded 30,819 kg of 78.5% moisture whole plant silage per hectare (6,626 kg dry matter) and starchy dent corn yielded 40,418 kg of 65.3% moisture whole plant silage (14,025 kg dry matter) per hectare. Chemical analyses of the two types of silage showed greater crude protein, crude fiber, and ether extract and lesser nitrogen-free extract and ash in the silage made from the male sterile corn. Digestion trial technique showed the digestibility of crude protein and crude fiber fractions of silage made from male sterile corn was significantly (P < .01) greater than that of silage made from regular starchy corn. © 1969, American Dairy Science Association. All rights reserved.