Abstract #M160

Section: Forages and Pastures (posters)
Session: Forages and Pastures I
Format: Poster
Day/Time: Monday 7:30 AM–9:30 AM
Location: Exhibit Hall A

# M160
Yield and quality of brown midrib and non-brown midrib corn silage hybrids grown in northern New York over a three-year period.
Michael D. Miller^*1, Eric O. Young¹, Kurt W. Cotanch¹, Catherine S. Ballard¹, Rick J. Grant¹, ¹William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, Chazy, NY.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality and yield of dry matter and fiber fractions of BMR and non-BMR corn silage hybrids grown in northern New York in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Hybrids [brown midrib-3 (BM3; hybrids 1 and 2), n = 2; brown midrib-1 (BM1; hybrid 3), n = 1; and non-BMR (hybrids 4 and 5), n = 2] were used in a randomized complete block design study and assigned randomly to plots within each block in a 5.7-ha tile-drained field. All hybrids were planted at 83,980 seeds/ha with 0.76-m row spacing with 4 replicates per block. Data were analyzed using MIXED procedure in SAS with fixed effects of treatment, block, year, and treatment by year interaction, and block within year was treated as a random effect. Brown midrib-3 (hybrids 1 and 2) hybrids had lower (P < 0.05) undigested neutral detergent fiber at 240-h (uNDF240) than the BM1 and non-BMR hybrids (hybrids 3, 4, and 5; 6.8 and 6.0 vs 9.2, 10.4, and 9.8% DM). Brown midrib-1 (hybrid 3) and non-BMR (hybrid 4) hybrids had higher (P < 0.05) starch content than BM3 (hybrid 2; 35.2 and 35.5 vs 32.3% DM). Brown midrib-1 and non-BMR (hybrid 3 and 4) hybrids had lower (P < 0.05) potentially digestible NDF (pdNDF) than non-BMR (hybrid 5; 11.4 and 12.1 vs 13.7 Mg/ha). The yield and pdNDF yield had significant (P < 0.05) year and treatment by year interactions (Table 1). Results reveal BM3 hybrids had better fiber digestibility than BM1 and non-BMR hybrids, and amylase modified neutral detergent fiber organic matter basis (aNDFom) and pdNDF yields may be a useful metric for corn silage hybrid evaluation. Table 1.

Item	Hybrid					SE	P-value
1	2	3	4	5
BM3	BM3	BM1	Non-BMR	Non-BMR	Trt	Year	Trt × Year
Yield,¹ Mg/ha	38.1^b	38.8^ab	39.2^ab	40.8^ab	43.0^a	1.3	0.05	<0.05	0.03
aNDFom,² %	40.0^ab	38.6^c	38.6^d	39.8^bcd	41.3^a	0.4	<0.05	0.06	<0.05
pdNDF, %	33.2^a	32.5^ab	29.4^d	29.5^c	31.5^b	0.4	<0.05	0.56	<0.05
aNDFom yield,¹ Mg/ha	15.2^b	14.8^b	15.0^b	16.1^b	17.7^a	0.4	<0.05	<0.05	0.06
pdNDF yield,¹ Mg/ha	12.8^ab	12.6^ab	11.4^b	12.1^b	13.7^a	0.4	<0.05	<0.05	0.02

^a–dWithin a row, different superscripts differ at (P ≤ 0.05). ¹35% DM basis. ²Amylase-modified neutral detergent fiber organic matter basis.

Key Words: corn silage, brown midrib, potentially digestible neutral detergent fiber