What Are Corn Stalk Bales Worth?
September 29, 2014
It’s hard to believe the time of year is here already, but combines are entering the fields in my neck of the woods. We were hit by an early June hail storm and had a cool summer, so yields are expected to be down in many fields and some will be used for silage. After harvest, the corn stalks on many fields will be baled or the fields grazed by cattle until winter weather arrives.
We’ve been going back and forth regarding buying or baling corn stalk bales, or running our cows down the road to our corn fields for grazing. Certainly, it would be easier to let the cattle graze stalks vs. feeding bales this fall, but since they will be further down the road, there is some concern about getting them home before a blizzard hits. Plus, we think corn stalk bales make pretty good bedding in the winter time, so there’s the added value of using the stalks from our own field vs. purchasing straw.
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A recent article by Bruce Anderson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension forage specialist, discusses the pros and cons of baling corn stalks for feed, and I thought it was worth passing along. Here is an excerpt:
“What are corn stalk bales worth?” asks Anderson. “One way to look at it is from the cost standpoint. Nutrients removed by stalk bales may need to be replaced with extra fertilizer. Using this fall’s prices, stalks contain about $10 worth of nitrogen, phosphate, sulfur, and lime/ton.