Good corn silage might be the top ration ingredient for many backgrounders or stocker operators in between forages this fall or winter.

A recent summary by Terry Klopfenstein, retired University of Nebraska animal scientist, says in the right scenario, silage can represent a better buy per ton of total digestible nutrients (TDN) than corn or hay.

Of course, that depends on the many variables, he says.

Generally, he assumed the feedlot or backgrounder would be close to the fields to be ensiled, and also that manure would be hauled back out to the same fields once every four years to replace the extra nutrients removed by the silage, thereby cheapening the cost.

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