G78-395 Feeding Corn and Sorghum Silages to Beef Cattle

Corn and sorghum silages are versatile feeds that can be supplemented so that they are satisfactory for part of most growing and finishing rations. Harvesting corn as silage and planting forage sorghums for silage have the advantage that they maximize beef production per acre compared to harvesting these crops by other methods and other cropping programs. Another important advantage is that harvesting, storage and feeding can be completely mechanized. However, as the costs of machinery, fuel, and labor have increased, the cost of harvesting silage has increased more rapidly than harvesting as grain.