COMPARISON OF GRAIN YIELD AND WHOLE-PLANT SILAGE PRODUCTION OF RECOMMENDED CORN HYBRIDS

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Abstract
A 2-yr study was conducted at Elora and Brucefield, Ont. to examine the relationship between grain yield following grain physiological maturity and whole-plant dry matter (DM) yield and quality determined at the stage desirable for ensiling. Quality parameters analyzed include in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVD) of the stover, IVD of the whole plant, stover lignin content and stover protein content. There was a significant linear relationship between the performance of hybrids for grain yield production and their yield for silage production. However, the relationship was not complete enough to permit reliable selection of hybrids for silage production based on grain yield performance (coefficients of determination were 0.23 and 0.25 for Elora and Brucefield, respectively). Grain dry matter content, however, provided a satisfactory estimate of whole-plant maturity for silage production. Coefficients of determination between grain DM content and whole-plant DM content were 0.71 and 0.53 for Elora and Brucefield, respectively. There was considerable variation among hybrids for lignin content and IVD of stover. Differences were much less for whole-plant IVD. The findings of this study support the need for separate evaluation trials for corn grown for whole-plant silage production as opposed to grain production.Key words: Zea mays, corn silage, grain yield, hybrid performance