In 2015, 38 corn silage hybrids representing 13 commercial brands were evaluated in a joint trial with Michigan State University (MSU). One Ohio location is combined with Michigan's two southern (Zone 1) silage locations. The Ohio test site was located in our Northwest Region at Hoytville (Wood County). The two MSU sites were located in Branch and Lenawee counties, which are on the Ohio/Michigan state line. The test results from the three 2015 locations are treated as one region. The plots were planted with 4-row air type planters and maintained by each respective state utilizing standard production practices. The center 2 rows were harvested with MSU’s self-propelled forage harvester. Silage tests were harvested uniformly as close to half milk line as possible. Near Infrared Reflectance (NIR) Quality Analysis was performed by MSU using their current procedures. Silage results present the percent dry matter of each hybrid plus green weight and dry weight as tons per acre. Other data presented include percent stand, the percentage of in vitro digestible dry matter, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber digestibility, crude protein and starch. Milk production in pounds per ton and pounds per acre were estimated using MILK2006 (UW-Madison Dairy Science Department).
A complete summary of the Ohio results are available online at: http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/silagetrials. More information on procedures and additional 2015 MSU silage test data can be viewed online at: http://www.varietytrials.msu.edu/corn. For more information on Ohio State crop variety testing, visit: http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~perf.