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Faunsdale, AL | I think I would graze them after they calve when they need the additional nutrients. If you have adequate moisture, I expect the corn will either be growing again by that time or dead and drying down, just depending on what kind of damage each stalk had. You could test some stalks for nitrate in the meantime to determine if there is a concern.
The longer the ears are in the field, the more danger of aflatoxin or other mycotoxin production. For that reason I would say grazing sooner would be better than later. Beef cattle can take more mycotoxins than say dairy cows or hogs etc, so if you have cattle that can utilize this stuff, I would try to do it if the nitrate tests come back OK.
One thing that might work is to have someone with a chopper come in and make earlage. Should minimize the nitrate question since you'll leave most of the stalk in the field and can go ahead and get the ears up off the ground and get them preserved before the molds get going. I would highly recommend an innoculant and chopping soon while there's still good moisture in the ears. The cob usually adds moisture to the mix, so I think you're still in the range of moisture that makes good feed. | |
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Fall calving cows on total hail damage loss corn
