LEXINGTON, Ky. — On July 11, Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer warned livestock producers and corn growers that drought-stressed corn silage could be toxic to livestock.

“Producers should be careful about feeding corn silage until they have determined that the nitrogen content is at an acceptable level,” he explained.

On July 31, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s website published an article by University of Kentucky (UK) extension professor Greg Halich that came from UK’s July 26 Economic and Policy Update, titled “The Value of Drought-Stressed Corn Silage.”

Halich is just one of several agriculture extension professors at UK, and back on July 10, a handful of them put on an Advanced Kentucky Grazing School at the Oran Little Research Center in Versailles. The one-day field event was specifically designed for producers who had previously attended one of the ag college’s earlier grazing schools.

One of the educators at Kentucky Master Grazer Schools in recent years has been Donna Amaral-Phillips, a professor in the UK Department of Animal Sciences. It is her goal to teach the fundamentals of livestock nutrition and management, and help farmers improve the quality and quantity of forages they feed Kentucky cattle.

At the July 10 school, Amaral-Phillips’ presentation on harvesting stunted corn and the dangers of nitrate poisoning was videotaped. The video, titled “Feeding Corn in Drought Conditions,” may be searched for at www.YouTube.com

She said 100-degree-plus temperatures prevented much of the state’s corn crop from tasseling, so the corn did not pollinate and has stunted or no ears. “If (you) get it at the correct moisture and put it up for silage, and pack it correctly, (you) can have a very good crop to feed your livestock this winter and fall,” she said.

She warned this crop must be tested for nitrates before it is grazed, green-chopped or fed as hay. She also told her audience how to turn the stunted corn into usable feed for ruminant livestock.

Last week, Amaral-Phillips said, “Farmers need to make the decision which fields they are going to chop and, if they are going to have corn grain, which fields are fields (that) can be used for corn grain.”

She said the condition of the crop in Kentucky varies depending on each location and circumstance. “Some of the later corn fared a little better than the earlier-planted corn because we had moisture at the right time, and reduced temperatures for pollination.”

She also said critical in preparing dry corn for forage is the moisture content because it is a major factor for fermentation. Also, test at this time for nitrates to make sure that they will not be toxic to livestock once the crop goes through the fermentation process.

Local forage test labs will analyze for nitrates, Amaral Phillips said, and many diagnostic labs will do testing, too. “Every state is a little different and farmers need to contact their local extension office,” she said.