by Larry Hawkins, PAS
Whenever a trend-setting new technology arrives threatening to upset the apple cart, the forces which are being disrupted (in this case “Big Corn”) attempt to muddy the waters to maintain their highly profitable dominance. Such is the case with Forage Innovations’ Better Than BMR (BTBMR) system. Competitive hybrid companies with a lot to lose are pecking at the edges of BTBMR and we want to address their “sincere” concerns.
Many of you probably have already seen our BTBMR video which was posted on Facebook. Actually, as of now over 50,000 people have. I know many who watched it were academics, Extension folks and competitors, but since there are only about 40,000 dairy farmers in the US, quite a few dairies have watched our post!
Just to review, BTBMR is a system where certain very specific, floury-starch hybrids when planted at reduced populations (24 to 27K) have both enough flex in the ear and enough stalk expansion to produce a much bigger stalk and ear. As far as we know, hydrids with the trait of adequate stalk expansion are a small subset of hybrids which have adequate ear flex necessary for the BTBMR system. In other words, all stalk expanding hybrids have ear flex, but the opposite is not so.
The subset of these flex, expanding hybrids is small. We know of fewer than 10 hybrids which will do the job. It is small because “Big Corn” has been developing almost exclusively “determinate ear” hybrids. What this means is almost regardless of the population, these plants will produce the same number of, but smaller kernels. Of course, then the population recommendations (and the price of a bushel of corn) keep going up. Who is the biggest beneficiary of these recommendations? Well, it seems like it is “Big Corn!”
The flex of the ear together with the expansion of the stalk provides at least three benefits:
- Equal silage yield to normal population corn.
When compared to conventional hybrids (non-BMR) there may be a ton of dry matter (DM) silage difference favoring the conventional. When comparing to the BMR varieties, the BTBMR system will be about 1 ton to the plus side. This is assuming we have some form of average (?!) weather. We will deal with the effects of water later in this article.
2. A lower lignin percentage (more digestibility).
Progressive dairies have seen through the hype of Big Corn and are succeeding with the Better than BMR system. Any time you are looking for the highest quality corn silage for your dairy (BMR, in particular) yield gets sacrificed in the decision. With BTBMR, you gain tons over the BMR and are planting your fields at between 25 and 33% lower seed cost. In the bargain, metrics such as NDFD30, uNDF240 and Milk per Acre, not just Milk per Ton, put you ahead of the game.
Why does this happen? Typically, as the stalk expands the outer rind becomes a lower percentage of the cross-sectional area of the stalk. Since the lignin is contained in the rind, its percentage becomes lower. The bigger area will contain the digestible digestible fibers and sugars.
An example of the quality was evident in recent World Dairy Expo Forage Analysis Superbowls. Corn hybrids which Forage Innovations uses had 6 of the Top Ten places in the Standard (non-BMR) Corn Silage category in 2020. Both the Grand Champion and the Quality Counts winner which was chosen out of all entries including the BMRs! Our final totals included 4 of the top five. The majority of our 2020 entries were raised in the BTBMR system. Also, the 2019 and the 2018 Grand Champions were also BTBMR system hybrids
3. A much lower seed cost per acre.
We are planting corn at 67 to 75% of the seed you would normally use. If you are using our Rethinking Rotations and our Innovations Diet systems, all your corn be first-year corn. This can mean further savings on input costs. These systems has compelled a few Big Corn competitors who have something to lose, to attempt to prove to some of you why BTBMR does not work! The problem is their arguments are like comparing apples to oranges
Why apples to oranges?
There has been much valid research which has been thrown at farmers interested in BTBMR. This includes Dr Joe Lauer, et al. at UW-Madison; and Dr. Georgio Ferreira at VA Tech with numerous repetitions, multiple locations, and multiple years of study. In each case the data show the quality (measured in Milk per Ton) was higher with fewer seeds per acre. 14K to 40K/acre were used in Wisconsin and 22K to 40K in Virginia. Both studies used 6K seeding intervals for their trials. However, in both multi-year studies, yield dropped off considerably as seeding rates went down. Thus, the Milk per Acre numbers suffered. This is exactly what our research shows when using determinate ear hybrids!
In neither study was there an attempt to identify hybrids with both high-stalk expansion and high-ear flex. The results were exactly as we would expect, i.e., higher quality at low pops, but not enough yield to compete with populations of around 36, 38K This why we are saying these trials are like comparing apples to oranges when Big Corn tries to use these data to show why BTBMR won’t work.
Why wouldn’t BTBMR work?
Weather plays a big role in corn production, whatever the population. Rod Osthus, a 50+-year veteran corn expert declares “there are a thousand variables that affect your corn crop and between 600 and 700 involve water!” When water is lacking, our low population BTBMR corn always will do better. When the water is excessive, the high population corn may fare better. When weather is normal (and I cannot remember the last time normal happened!) both high pops and BTBMR work to their best. With BTBMR, often we get two full-sized ears per stalk.
Take Home Lesson
Progressive dairies have seen through the hype of Big Corn and are succeeding with the Better than BMR system. Any time you are looking for the highest quality corn silage for your dairy (BMR, in particular) yield gets sacrificed in the decision. With BTBMR, you gain tons over the BMR and are planting your fields at between 25 and 33% lower seed cost. In the bargain, metrics such as NDFD30, uNDF240 and Milk per Acre, not just Milk per Ton, put you ahead of the game.