T0KAGE CROPS IX NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS. 



23 



CORN, SUNFLOWERS, AND SORGHUM FOR SILAGE. 



Silage is worthy of serious consideration for winter feed in any 

 system of livestock farming, particularly dairy farming. (Figs. 6 and 

 7.) It has been shown that steers can be carried through the winter 

 in good condition on corn silage alone, and when put on pasture they 

 make rapid gains. The total acreage of corn for silage in the north- 

 ern Great Plains area, as given in the census for 1919, was only 

 about 17,000 acres; the total tonnage was approximatelv 46,000, an 

 average of less than 3 tons per acre. The average yield per acre in 

 South Dakota and Nebraska is somewhat greater than in Montana 

 and Xorth Dakota. The acreage of corn cut for silage in Montana 

 is insignificant, and most of it is under irrigation. 



In the northern Great Plains, as in many other parts of the United 

 States, corn is the most popular silage crop, although sunflowers 



Fig. 8.— Sunflowers at Redfield, S. Dak. Sunflowers make a good silage and can be grown 

 where the season is too short for corn. 



have received increased attention for several years. Sunflowers 

 thrive where it is too cool for corn, provided moisture conditions are 

 favorable. The Mammoth Russian is the best variety available. 

 (Fig. 8.) 



The results of tests that have been conducted to ascertain the 

 yields that may be expected of corn and sunflowers for silage in this 

 region are shown in Table 1 1 . 



In most cases these comparative tests have not extended over a 

 period long enough to give really conclusive data. The average annual 

 yields of corn for silage range from about 2 tons at Havre to 10^ tons at 

 Redfield. At Ardmore sunflowers outyielded corn in 1920, but the 

 tonnage for both crops was about the same in 1919, 1921, and 1922. 

 The green weight of sunflowers is somewhat higher than that of corn 

 at Redfield, Havre, and Moccasin, but on an air-dry basis corn has 

 exceeded sunflowers in all the tests at these points. Because corn 



