Corn Cob vs. Corn Grain

[plowboy50]

Hello,
Can someone tell me if it's better to feed my cattle corn cob or corn grain? I just wasn't sure if there is better nutritional value in one than the other.
Thanks,
Plowboy50

 

[HomePlaceAngus]

I am not sure of your question. There is not much value in corn cobs without corn. Grinding corn on the cob is a great feed as the cob adds fiber whereas grinding shelled corn you still have to add fiber and something else to raise the protein value. In 50 years of raising cattle the best feed I ever fed was ground corn on the cob with molasses added. The cattle loved it and did very well on it. I hope this is helpful.

 

[plowboy50]

Where would I be able to buy molasses? What's the corn and molasses ratio?

 

[Amo]

Ive always wondered this myself as well. You hear all the older crowd say how ground ear corn/earlage is so great. Which I do think it is and has some merrits. Thing is though if it was soo good why don't the feedlots do it. I know more work and hassel. Plus grain farmers don't want to sell ear corn due to work/hassel. Earlage could be done pretty easy for a feedlot. Seams like they would almost rather make a pile of wet corn than do the earlage thing.

 

[TexasBred]

Corn is corn......cob is cob....last time I checked ground corn cobs were pretty expensive for what you're getting. Ground ear corn seems to be a thing of the past around this area. Corn is shelled when picked and cobs and shucks go back into the ground.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Ive always wondered this myself as well. You hear all the older crowd say how ground ear corn/earlage is so great. Which I do think it is and has some merrits. Thing is though if it was soo good why don't the feedlots do it. I know more work and hassel. Plus grain farmers don't want to sell ear corn due to work/hassel.

Ground ear corn is outstanding if:

the corn is wet and you/they avoid drying costs
someone else shovels it
you feed it on high protein pasture to balance the ration

 

[TexasBred]

Ive always wondered this myself as well. You hear all the older crowd say how ground ear corn/earlage is so great. Which I do think it is and has some merrits. Thing is though if it was soo good why don't the feedlots do it. I know more work and hassel. Plus grain farmers don't want to sell ear corn due to work/hassel.

Ground ear corn is outstanding if:

the corn is wet and you/they avoid drying costs
someone else shovels ityou feed it on high protein pasture to balance the ration

Amen bro. Done my share of that crap.

 

[highgrit]

Plowboy50, I use 2 bags molasses, 2 bags cotton seed meal and 2 bags vitamendi per ton. This should be around 10% protein.

 

[HomePlaceAngus]

Well, like so may other things about farming/ranching we keep trying to eliminate as much labor as possible. In doing so, we quite picking corn on the cob and now we go out with our big combines and shell it right in the field. Saves a lot of steps and labor. Unfortunally, for those of us that raise corn and also feed cattle, we are now putting a great deal of our feed product right back into the soil. That being the corn cob. I have seriously thought about finding me a 2 row picker and going back to picking and storing some of my corn on the cob. I still think it makes great cattle feed. How does the cob cost me anything, except a little labor.

 

[jedstivers]

I haven't look in the book yet but I have been told the newer combines have a setting to grind more cob and put it in the grain tank. If it does I'm going to do some that way next year and also try to make it crack the kernnals more too. Will have to raise the trough over the unload augers though.

 

[inbredredneck]

I haven't look in the book yet but I have been told the newer combines have a setting to grind more cob and put it in the grain tank. If it does I'm going to do some that way next year and also try to make it crack the kernnals more too. Will have to raise the trough over the unload augers though.

Jed we remove the lower sieve, set concave to 1/2" and set rotor speed at about 50% faster than normal operating speed. Fan choke is the tricky part, enough to blow out chaff but not the cob that one takes some R&D.

 

[Amo]

I think earlage would be pretty easy to handle. Have a pile out side somewhere etc. I just don't farm and not sure if anybody around here would do it custome. Know of 2 that do it, but not sure of the options.

The one guy chops silage and then feeds earlage. IDK why he don't just chop more silage?

 

[TexasBred]

Well, like so may other things about farming/ranching we keep trying to eliminate as much labor as possible. In doing so, we quite picking corn on the cob and now we go out with our big combines and shell it right in the field. Saves a lot of steps and labor. Unfortunally, for those of us that raise corn and also feed cattle, we are now putting a great deal of our feed product right back into the soil. That being the corn cob. I have seriously thought about finding me a 2 row picker and going back to picking and storing some of my corn on the cob. I still think it makes great cattle feed. How does the cob cost me anything, except a little labor.

Most around here feel they need to add that cob as well as stalk, shucks, etc. back into the soil. Jury still out on long term affects of cutting all corn into silage and not putting anything back into the soil and even this year the corn that was not chopped for silage had all the stalks etc. baled.

 

[inbredredneck]

Most around here feel they need to add that cob as well as stalk, shucks, etc. back into the soil. Jury still out on long term affects of cutting all corn into silage and not putting anything back into the soil and even this year the corn that was not chopped for silage had all the stalks etc. baled.

Most all farm leases around here clearly stipulate that if any fodder is removed, the renter must replace it with the manure generated from the fodder, otherwise it can not be removed.

 

[Mid South Guy]

Well, like so may other things about farming/ranching we keep trying to eliminate as much labor as possible. In doing so, we quite picking corn on the cob and now we go out with our big combines and shell it right in the field. Saves a lot of steps and labor. Unfortunally, for those of us that raise corn and also feed cattle, we are now putting a great deal of our feed product right back into the soil. That being the corn cob. I have seriously thought about finding me a 2 row picker and going back to picking and storing some of my corn on the cob. I still think it makes great cattle feed. How does the cob cost me anything, except a little labor.

I too seriously looked into to this a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, getting a picker is just the start. You need to have a way to get the ear corn from the picker and field, which at least is a couple gravity bed wagons. You need a corn crib to store it in so it will air dry and not mold. You need an elevator to get it in the crib. You need to be able to get it out (min gravity flow and a scoop shovel). You need a hammer mill or a grinder/mixer to process it, and a way to handle and feed the bulk product. Having none of the facilities or equipment needed, other than a tractor, grinder/mixer and scoop shovel, I decided against it and just put up a used 20+ ton bulk tank and buy dried shelled corn by the truck load from a couple of nearby grain farmers. (They let me use one of their augers to unload)

 

[Bama1]

We lease a 20 acre field down the road and plant corn. Works out great when you get a good crop. Last year we got about 30 tons and sold most of it which basically paid for everything.
With the drought this year we only got about 10 tons. We will be trying to stretch that till next years corn harvest.

We found us an old grinder/mixer for 800 bucks a few months ago. When grinding we usually mix 500 lbs of soybean pellets and a bag of beefmaster sixty supplement to a little over a ton of earcorn. We store it in 55 gal drums.

 

[shaz]

I am not sure of your question. There is not much value in corn cobs without corn. Grinding corn on the cob is a great feed as the cob adds fiber whereas grinding shelled corn you still have to add fiber and something else to raise the protein value. In 50 years of raising cattle the best feed I ever fed was ground corn on the cob with molasses added. The cattle loved it and did very well on it. I hope this is helpful.

Would/could you feed that to hogs as well?

 

[TexasBred]

Hogs don't digest fiber well. Corn with some added protein would be much better.

 

[12251HD]

We kept a corn picker, gravity wagon, and grinder from my Dad's old equipment pool and pick enough corn each year to feed our cows throughout the haying season. Further, we use a creep feeder gate to allow the calves to come into a part of the barn for some ground corn mixed with molasses and protien. For little cost and work, it makes a big difference in the herd performance and at the sale barn.

 

[Stocker Steve]

We kept a corn picker, gravity wagon, and grinder from my Dad's old equipment pool and pick enough corn each year to feed our cows throughout the haying season. Further, we use a creep feeder gate to allow the calves to come into a part of the barn for some ground corn mixed with molasses and protien. For little cost and work, it makes a big difference in the herd performance and at the sale barn.

Feed mills push creep feeders with ground corn grain with Accuration. Your more traditional approach will cost less per pound for folks willing to do the work. Congrats on that.
Picker and grinder equipment here will run $1000 to $1500 total. Wagon extra.