O.T. - Feeding sweet corn stalks to cattle?

In years past, I always chopped the stalks off at ground level and fed them to the cattle. Now I'm reading about nitrate poisoning and wondering if I was lucky I didn't kill a few of them. My sweet corn was watered often, so it wasn't drought stressed as bad as the field corn. What about cutting the stalks a foot above the ground - does that lesson the chances of nitrate poisoning? Or mebbe I'm worrying for nothing.

Paul

There is risk in anything one does. So, we can't say it will never happen, and we can't say it is going to happen every time....

For field corn we tend to fertilize for 180-220 bu corn, lots of N.

In a drought situation the corn doesn't grow well, doesn't set much of an ear. But, those feeder roots still gather all that N placed in the top few inches of ground.

With no or few kernals to feed, and not enough moisture in the plant to grow, the N gets stored in the stalk. Waiting for the good days when it can use it. In a drought, those good days never come.

So, now you have sweet corn. How heavily are you fertilizing it with N? Is it setting normal ears, using the N it gathers? If you sre watering it, it can grow mostly normally and continue using the n it gathers.

Are you feeding your cattle other stuff, and the corn is just a bonus, or is the corn the only thing they get? Nitrates tend to build up in cattle over a week, when most of their feed is a high-nitrate feed.... If they also get some dry hay, or other non-nitrate roughages it blends into a range of nitrates they can handle - after all they typically eat & process nitrates in most of their green feeds, it's just when the levels are too high it's a problem.

So - depending on your answers, perhaps you have a rather low chance of anything happening? But I won't be the person to say no you'll never have a problem ever - it just all depends on all the details. I'll guess you likely are in a pretty safe area tho?

But a good question, and something to think about.

--->Paul

I don't think they'll eat enough of the large bottom of the stalk to have to worry about it. They'll eat the leaves,maybe some of the smaller tops of the stalks.

OK - thanks for the advice. I side dressed it with nitrogen and it was watered enough that it made a pretty good crop - cattle are on severely dry pasture and have hay set out for free choice. I'm gonna give it to them - not all at once though. They think it's a treat. Small herd. Pets.

We have a large sweetcorn('Olathe Sweet')industry here.100s of those acres are pastured over fall and winter.the cows eat EVERYTHING down to the ground.

Been feeding out garden sweet corn stalks to cattle for years and haven't had any issues. Knock on wood.

Been feeding them to sheep, llamas, goats for years. No problem - they love them!

All I can say is we did it for years without problems. Can't make any promises though.

I just read in our farm paper about the potential for nitrate poisoning in silage corn this year and it reccomended chopping higher and leaving 8-12 " of stalk , so you have the right idea if you are worried.

My cattle eat the whole corn stalk.They may leave the stem of field corn,but I just split the stem with a knife and they clean it up.Always grew a few rows of field corn in the garden for my cows.Sweet corn stalks are full of sugar.

I've seen DUMPTRUCK loads of corn shucks leaving
a canning company..was told they went for silage.

The sweet corn ear grew and the nitrates where used in growing the ear. The trouble with drought corn it that it does not grow the ear. So the nitrates are still in the stalk.

You will not have any trouble with the sweet corn.