Water is biggest factor in corn silage quality

Texas A&M AgriLife Research (AgriLife) scientists studied how to minimize yield losses while reducing groundwater usage on the High Plains, where quantities of water from the Ogallala Aquifer are diminishing.

The 2014 study showed the biggest factor in corn silage quality was water. The study was led by AgriLife corn breeder, irrigation engineer and Texas Tech graduate students and was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Ogallala Aquifer Program, according to AgriLife Today.

“In the Texas Panhandle, we’re on the southern end of the Ogallala Aquifer, and of course the aquifer is drying up from south to north,” said Karl Brauer, Texas Tech University graduate students and contributor to the study.

Overall, the study showed that irrigating at 100 percent of evapotranspiration, or ET, provided no yield or quality advantages over 75 percent ET irrigation. So irrigating at 100 percent essentially can be viewed as a “waste,” Brauer said.