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| I have several acres available on which to raise crops to feed my animals. I would like to raise some corn, but I'm not sure which varieties would be good for a small hobby farm. I will not use chemical fertilizers or herbicides, so that excludes many of the popular commercial varieties of field corn. My land is good bottom land located in east-central Missouri. Any advice?
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| The Indian Corn that we picked up at our co-op got 7.5' tall. Nothing was added except the pine shavings from the chicken coop. We feed our chickens, heifers and finally made some corn cob jelly. What ever you decide to use go with one type. If they are planted to close or if you have a directional wind they will cross and only the animals will eat it.
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| I wrote an article about growing heirloom corn for the soon-upcoming September-October issue of Hobby Farms. I'm not sure if it will be used or not, but the article package included a chart describing a dozen varieties of heirloom corn. Many are old-time dual-purpose varieties that can be eaten as sweet corn in the milk stage and dried to use as animal feed or cornmeal at maturity. I wish we had room to grow them all! Sue
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| Sue, can you post that chart for the corn somewhere in the forum? We do subscribe to HF. It sounds like it could come in handy for a science project for the kids. Thanks, cweick
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cweick (8/7/2009)
Sue, can you post that chart for the corn somewhere in the forum? We do subscribe to HF. It sounds like it could come in handy for a science project for the kids. Thanks, cweick I can't do anything like that until after the magazine comes out (it belongs to Hobby Farms now, not me) but maybe when it does, Krista can post it somewhere on the Web site? Something I like about many of the old-fashioned varieties is that they grow really tall, substantial stalks that make terrific livestock fodder while they're green. We like two white-kerneled varieties called Country Gentleman (it was my grandma's favorite variety) and Stowell's Evergreen; the corn is beyond delicious when eaten as sweet corn and after we've eaten the last ear, we pull up the stalk and use it for feed. Country Gentleman stalks tend to go 8 feet or taller and we've fed Stowell's Evergreen stalks that must have been 10 feet tall, yet they also mature big ears of sweet, yummy corn. John and I greatly prefer the flavor of heirloom corn over the new sugary-sweet hybrids. It's true you have to rush old-fashioned varieties straight from the corn patch to the cookstove but oh my, it's soooooo worth it! Sue
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| I'm going to have to see if our co-op can get one or the other that you mentioned. With our Indian Corn (this year) we used it several ways and boy P2 has a beautiful one that is drying in the attic. We haven't gotten our mag yet but I will keep an eye out for it. Thanks.
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Sue, please don't take this wrong, but what humans like for corn, and what animals like is two completely different things. It has to do with the harvest time, and how the corn matures and then converts sugars into carbohydrates, and then later ferments as it ages. The heritage breeds work, but you get a lot of waste because the corn stalks aren't all that palatable to livestock.
In this case going for a special silage feed of corn is the best bang for the buck. First you get a better ear of corn and multiple ears on single stalks to boot, getting your kernel to stalk ratio at 50%.
They also grow taller...7.5 feet high is half of the height, and half the yield that we get with silage varieties. We can get heights of 14 feet high with 100 day corn and get yields in the 20-25 tons per acre range. Considering the fact that the sheep and cows will eat every scrap of corn because the stalks are softer and palatable, well you really gain in both weight and energy...a important factor when it gets very cold.
Its also a better bang for the buck because we pay between 100-150 bucks for 50 pound bag of decent seed which will do a few acres. If you source out heritage varieties in that quantity, you end up with very expensive seed. And the concern about herbicides and insecticides is kind of a moot point because unless you go for the really high tech seed, silage seed can grow no matter what how you choose to grow it. Just be forewarned, no corn grows good when weeds are competing for water and sun.
One great thing about corn is, because of the high grain content, you can mix in hay with the corn and get an excellent ration of feed. So good that grain is not necessary saving you money but giving your livestock the very best in feed.
I love vegetarians...slice them real thin, dip them in ranch dressing and they compliment lamb quite well! :-)
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Here is some interesting stuff on raising corn for livestock. It all started because having a dairy herd of over five hundred cows, the farmer that rents my farm had abandoned haying equipment and exchanged it for equipment that could harvest 150 acres per day and duck in and out of the weather. This system works well for dairy farmers, but the problem is…sheep can only have hay!
Or do they?
Interestingly enough, a gale and a hurricane back to back answered that question. They had saturated the ground, and with mud so deep, the trucks had to be hauled around the fields as the chopper filled it with feed. In some places the mud was too deep for even that and standing corn was left to be plowed under next Spring.
With only a few sheep to feed, I quickly calculated the remnants of the harvest could easily take me through much of the winter. With a bit of research, a lot of advice from area farmers, and a determination to feed my sheep nutritionally and economically, I set out to find a method that could convert standing corn stalks into delicious red meat.
Maine farmers are frugal by nature and after 34 years of farming, I am no different. In reality, the harvest of corn is pretty simple. The stalks are cut, transported, chopped, stored and fed. By rearranging the process of which that is done, I was able to feed my sheep easily with the equipment I already had. More importantly, it is most likely equipment that the average sheep farmer has on hand as well.
I love vegetarians...slice them real thin, dip them in ranch dressing and they compliment lamb quite well! :-)
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The corn silage my small scale endeavor created can be safely fed to sheep, and can meet much of their nutritional needs if done correctly. I mixed the corn with the only hay I had on-hand; some 2 year old hay of rather poor quality which got me through much of the winter. Even with poor quality hay, the sheep continued to gain scoring condition in preparation for lambing.
The ration consisted of, 60% hay, 40% corn silage, .25 pound of mineral mix ,and .75 of a cc of probiotics per head. This was fed at a rate of 2½ pounds of hay to 5 pounds of corn silage per head to have enough dry matter and roughage to support the sheep nutritionally.
You will note that I do not feed grain while feeding this ration. Corn and hay are mixed at this ration on dairy farms so that grain consumption is greatly reduced. It works the same with sheep and corn has the added benefit of giving the sheep plenty of energy and warmth on those long winter nights.
It should also be noted that while feeding this ration, the sheep were checked by the State Livestock Expert and the Assistant State Veterinarian. Upon scoring the sheep their statement was gratifying. “Whatever you are doing, keep doing it because the sheep are in great shape.”
I love vegetarians...slice them real thin, dip them in ranch dressing and they compliment lamb quite well! :-)
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