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The Rural Voice, 1988-08, Page 34W E S T 0 N PRECAST I N C. (envision o1 Fritz Concrete) "SERVICING THE NEEDS OF AGRICULTURE FOR OVER 15 YEARS" • CSA APPROVED PLANT • CONSTRUCT ANYTIME • ECONOMICAL • CHOICE OF FINISHES INSULATED, PRECAST CONCRETE WALL PANEL SYSTEM FOR FARM AND COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS Also Concrete: Fence Line & H - style Feeders; Beef, Dairy & Hog Slats R.R. 1, Chepstow Ontario NOG 1K0 Phone (519) 366-2661 Fax( 519) 366-2331 w1R 405 44064 / .11,111..10110, 4440.11.11.111111111111.11•111111100110 True Permanence The Gallagher Insultimber Fence Gallagher Insultimber will never rot or conduct electricity. It's fast and easy to install, inexpensive to buy and lasts a lifetime. And we've got top-quality •III'A Gallagher High -Tensile Wire too. For more information: Gallagher Power Fencing Systems Inc. Box 576, Owen Sound, Ontario N4K 5R1 1-800-265-3150 LLAGHER AP VIEW ntiaticv mums 32 THE RURAL VOICE poisoned livestock or, worse yet, a farm fatality. Feeding drought -stressed corn silage. Before making silage, be sure that all pesticides applied to the crop are cleared for silage use. The interval between final application and allow- able harvest may differ for silage and grain. Be sure to check the label of any chemical that was applied. Before drought -stressed corn is chopped for silage, test the moisture percentage. Even though the lower leaves may be brown, plants can con- tain 75 to 90 per cent water, which is too wet for acceptable silage fermen- tation. If drought -stressed corn has pollinated, it is best to delay harvest as long as some green leaf and stalk tissue remains and the black layer has not formed on the kernels. Rain can relieve moisture stress and increase grain dry matter and silage quality. The feed value of silage made from drought -stressed corn is between 90 and 100 per cent of that of silage made from well -eared corn, based on equal dry weights of the two feeds. Crude fibre and crude protein will be somewhat higher and TDN (total digestible nutrients) lower than with normal silage, because ears from drought -stressed corn may contain 50 per cent or more cob compared to 20 per cent cob on normal ears. Drought -stressed silage should be tested for moisture percentage and feed value. Shelled corn from drought -stressed plants contains between 90 and 100 per cent of the feed value of normal shelled corn. Test weight will be lower. Market discounts on low test -weight corn are often greater than the reduced feeding value, so this shelled corn is a good buy for a livestock producer. Selling drought -stressed silage. Yields: for moisture -stressed corn, you can expect to harvest about 1 ton of silage per acre for each 5 bushels of corn per acre that could be harvested. For example, if you expect a grain yield of 50 bushels/acre, you can expect 10 tons/acre of 30 per cent dry mauer silage. If very little or no grain is expected, a rough pre -harvest esti- mate of yield can be made by assum- ing that 1 ton of 30 per cent dry matter silage can be obtained for each 1 -foot height of plant, excluding the tassel.0