CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 191Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive PhysiologyCrop Yield and Soil FertilityAgricultural Engineering and Mechanization

Nutritive value of corn silage as affected by maturity and mechanical processing: A contemporary review

Open access
Johnson, L., Harrison, J.H., Hunt, C., Shinners, K., Doggett, C.G., Sapienza, D.·1999·Journal of Dairy Science
DOI 10.3168/jds.s0022-0302(99)75540-2
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Stage of maturity at harvest and mechanical processing affect the nutritive value of corn silage. The change in nutritive value of corn silage as maturity advances can be measured by animal digestion and macro in situ degradation studies among other methods. Predictive equations using climatic data, vitreousness of corn grain in corn silage, starch reactivity, gelatinization enthalpy, dry matter (DM) of corn grain in corn silage, and DM of corn silage can be used to estimate starch digestibility of corn silage. Whole plant corn silage can be mechanically processed either pre- or postensiling with a kernel processor mounted on a forage harvester, a recutter screen on a forage harvester, or a stationary roller mill. Mechanical processing of corn silage can improve ensiling characteristics, reduce DM losses during ensiling, and improve starch and fiber digestion as a result of fracturing the corn kernels and crushing and shearing the stover and cobs. Improvements in milk production have ranged from 0.2 to 2.0 kg/d when cows were fed mechanically processed corn silage. A consistent improvement in milk protein yield has also been observed when mechanically processed corn silage has been fed. With the advent of mechanical processors, alternative strategies are evident for corn silage management, such as a longer harvest window.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3168/jds.s0022-0302(99)75540-2

Cites

29 of 29 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The nutritive value of maize silages is influenced by genotype, agronomic factors, growth conditions, maturity at harvest, harvesting practices and ensiling conditions.

    “The nutritive value of maize silages is influenced by a number of factors such as genotype (maturity type, cell wall or starch type and endosperm type) agronomic (soil type, fertilization etc.) and growth conditions (temperature, irradiation, etc.), maturity at harvest, harvesting practices (chop length, kernel processing, etc.) and ensiling conditions.7,27 -31”

    From Nutritive value of maize silage in relation to dairy cow performance and milk quality (2015) · cites this paper as [27]

    The Introduction and Conclusions (pages not provided) link corn-silage nutritive value to harvest maturity, hybrid selection, mechanical processing and silage additives. The Digestibility section also relates digestibility to climate and soil moisture. The paper does not substantiate the sentence’s more specific examples of soil type, fertilization or irradiation. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Harvest practices such as proper maturity at harvest, kernel processing, theoretical length of cut, and cutting height are well-established management tools for improving physical and chemical characteristics and hence nutrient digestibility of whole-plant corn silage.

    “Harvest practices, such as proper maturity at harvest, kernel processing, theoretical length of cut (TLOC), and cutting height are well-established management tools for improving physical and chemical characteristics and hence nutrient digestibility of WPCS (Johnson et al., 1999;Allen et al., 2003;Buxton and O'Kiely, 2003;Ferraretto and Shaver, 2012b).”

    From Silage review: Recent advances and future technologies for whole-plant and fractionated corn silage harvesting (2018) · cites this paper as Johnson et al., 1999

    The Introduction and Conclusions (pages not provided) identify harvest maturity and mechanical processing as factors in corn-silage nutritive value and digestibility. The Particle size section discusses theoretical length of cut, but the paper says evidence on its interaction with processing is limited; the searched passages do not address cutting height as a tool for improving digestibility. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The total-tract starch digestibility response to processing rolls at different theoretical length of cut settings was thought to be related to greater kernel breakage by cutting knives at the lower theoretical length of cut or inhibition of kernel breakage during passage through the rollers by the stover portion at the longer theoretical length of cut.

    “These results were thought to be related to greater kernel breakage by cutting knives at the lower TLOC (Johnson et al., 1999) or inhibition of kernel breakage during passage through the rollers by the stover portion at the longer TLOC.”

    From Silage review: Recent advances and future technologies for whole-plant and fractionated corn silage harvesting (2018) · cites this paper as Johnson et al., 1999

    Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 2 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Corn-stover tissue is sufficiently damaged by processing to increase ruminal fiber degradation.

    “Although corn-stover tissue is sufficiently damaged by processing to increase ruminal fiber degradation (Johnson et al., 1999;Bal et al., 2000b), these effects are often inconsistent (Allen et al., 2003;Ferraretto and Shaver, 2012b).”

    From Silage review: Recent advances and future technologies for whole-plant and fractionated corn silage harvesting (2018) · cites this paper as Johnson et al., 1999

    The “In situ responses—corn silage” section reports greater NDF disappearance after mechanical processing, consistent with increased ruminal fiber degradation. But it presents damage to corn-stover tissue as the explanation with “We hypothesize,” whereas the citing sentence states that mechanism as fact. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Delayed whole-plant corn silage harvest increases starch concentration and decreases CP, NDF, and ash concentrations.

    “Several reviews emphasize an increased concentration of starch and corresponding decline in CP, NDF, and ash concentrations with delayed WPCS harvest (Johnson et al., 1999;Allen et al., 2003;Buxton and O'Kiely, 2003).”

    From Silage review: Recent advances and future technologies for whole-plant and fractionated corn silage harvesting (2018) · cites this paper as Johnson et al., 1999

    The “Nutritive value of corn silage—animal studies” section says starch tends to increase and CP and NDF tend to decline with advancing maturity. It does not report a corresponding decline in ash concentration, so Johnson et al. support only part of the attributed claim. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. [8]8. Doggett, C. G. 1998. Evaluation of the effect of corn hybrid and processing on digestion of whole plant silage, grain and stover. MS Thesis, Univ. Idaho, Moscow, Idaho.
  2. [12]12. Harrison, J. H., L. Johnson, S. Xu, and C. W. Hunt. 1996. Manag- ing corn silage for maximum nutritive value. Pages 29-37 in Proc. Cornell Nutrition Conf., Rochester, NY.
  3. [14]14. Honig, H., and K. Rohr. 1982. The influence of chopping on losses by undigested kernels and kernel fragments of maize, when feed- ing ruminants. Pages 32-41 in Proc. Semin. on Maize as Basic Feed for Beef Production: H. J. Oslage and R. Daccord, eds. FAL, Braunschweig, Germany. Bundesforschungsanstalt fu ¨r Landw- irtschaft 15
  4. [20]20. Johnson, L. 1996. Characterization of the relationship between duodenal flow of ruminal microbial nitrogen production and pu- rine metabolites in urine and milk. MS Thesis, Washington State Univ., Pullman.
  5. [36]36. Shaver, R. D. 1990. Forage Particle Length in Dairy Rations. Pages 58-64 in Proc. Dairy Feeding Systems Symp., NRAES, Ithaca, NY.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Johnson, L., Harrison, J. H., Hunt, C., Shinners, K., Doggett, C. G., & Sapienza, D.
Affiliations
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
  • University of Idaho (US)
  • Pioneer Hi-Bred (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Dairy Science
Publisher
American Dairy Science Association
Published
1999-12
Volume
82
Issue
12
Pages
2813-2825
ISSN
0022-0302 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3168/jds.s0022-0302(99)75540-2
OpenAlex
W2119515437
Semantic Scholar
25731948370f442b77e3b7d07c369e5fef580e04
Cited by
191
References
29
Citations by year
2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 7
FWCI
1.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Dairy Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Crop Yield and Soil Fertility
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Agricultural Engineering and Mechanization
Keywords
corn silage, nutritional value, harvest maturity, mechanical processing, starch digestibility, in situ degradation, vitreousness, gelatinization enthalpy, dry matter loss, milk production, milk protein yield, dairy cattle, roller mill
MeSH terms
Animals, Cattle, Zea mays, Digestion, Female, Food Handling, Nutritive Value, Rumen, Silage, Starch

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review