Offered Papers Theme C: Delivering the Benefits from Grassland
Description
Some dairy producers in the northeastern USA adopted narrow row (0.38 m) maize forage production in the mid-1990s because of its 5% dry matter (DM) yield advantage (Cox & Cherney, 1998). These dairy producers, however, continued to plant forage maize at high plant densities (125,000 plants/ha) under high N fertility (225 kg N/ha), despite research that indicated that forage maize had optimum DM yields and forage quality when planted at the recommended 100,000 plants/ha under 175 kg/ha of N fertility (Cox & Cherney, 2001). We evaluated forage maize at 0.38 and 0.76 m (conventional) row spacing under recommended vs. high plant densities and N fertility on a large dairy farm in New York. The objective of the study was to demonstrate to dairy producers that narrow-row forage maize does not require high plant densities and N fertility for optimum DM yield and forage quality.
Citation
Cox, W. J.; Cherney, J. H.; and Cherney, D. J. R., "Evaluation of Narrow-Row Forage Maize in Field-Scale Studies" (2023). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 128.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/20/themeC/128
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Evaluation of Narrow-Row Forage Maize in Field-Scale Studies
Some dairy producers in the northeastern USA adopted narrow row (0.38 m) maize forage production in the mid-1990s because of its 5% dry matter (DM) yield advantage (Cox & Cherney, 1998). These dairy producers, however, continued to plant forage maize at high plant densities (125,000 plants/ha) under high N fertility (225 kg N/ha), despite research that indicated that forage maize had optimum DM yields and forage quality when planted at the recommended 100,000 plants/ha under 175 kg/ha of N fertility (Cox & Cherney, 2001). We evaluated forage maize at 0.38 and 0.76 m (conventional) row spacing under recommended vs. high plant densities and N fertility on a large dairy farm in New York. The objective of the study was to demonstrate to dairy producers that narrow-row forage maize does not require high plant densities and N fertility for optimum DM yield and forage quality.
