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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 1960)
Ordinary corn silage is often ignored in discussions of new corn harvesting methods. Yet it appears that more whole stalk silage is being made each year because it produces the most to tal feed value per acre. Corn silage continues to serve as a foundation to many cattle feeding programs and fits particularly well into systems which aim toward producing High Good-Low Choice type cattle carcasses. Modern machinery has made the harvesting and storing of corn silage a much eas ier job than it was a few years back. Tractors that have more power, con stant running pto's and "shift on the go' gears have helped a lot to improve the field efficiency of forage harvest ers. Modern self-unloading wagons are now being used during silage harvest to feed direct pto-drive blow ers which have the capacity to push silage up into 50-foot or taller silos without plugging. the ONE-TWO-THREE'S I * M / ot / better corn picking POWER ONE — Low Range, with the Big Stick on Allis-Chalmers tractors gives 42 percent more power for smooth starts and tough going or up slopes with a heavy wagonload of corn. TWO — Neutral, with live power take-off in continuous operation. When corn is down and lodged, or field conditions too tough for normal forward motion, shift to neutral, let picker clean itself and then inch forward with smooth, oil cushioned clutch until you’re in the clear. You'll never appreciate how much easier PTO opera tions can be until you’ve tried the Allis-Chalmers LIVE PTO coupled with the Big Stick. THREE — High Range, with over 46 per cent more speed for fast picking in the lighter spots. Shift into high range on-the-go . . . smooth ly, quickly, keep work moving at top speed. Keep com flowing smoothly through your Allis-Chalmers com picker with D-17 tractor power. Be money ahead with more com saved ... at lower cost. See your Allis-Chalmers dealer. Save costs and corn...with an Allis-Chalmers picker. You're ahead by hundreds of dollars on first costs . . . and further ahead each day you pick with the corn saved by the low, slop ing rolls and adjustable stripper plates. Try an Allis-Chalmers picker . . . they are easy on —and—off, and the safest pickers built. AIDS CHAIMERS, FARM EQUIFMENT DIVISION, MILWAUKEE I, WISCONSIN A Ask your dealer about the A ■ ■ AU A I Allit-Chalmert plan to finance your flMhlVIB lime purtkost of farm equipment. trends in CORN HARVESTING AND STORAGE Changing the conventional com harvesting and storage method is not a step to be taken lightly. Farmers throughout the major producing areas rec ognize this fact and have been making their moves very deliberately. Certain trends are showing up which can serve as a guide for those who are facing this problem of a change. Conventional harvest of ear com and storage in a crib appears to be the most economical method for small farmers. They have the opportunity to get com out of the field in a relatively short time and are rarely caught with late harvest when held losses skyrocket. While their total return from the corn crop may be somewhat less, their cash costs of harvesting and storing it will also be lower. This can be an important factor where farm business size is on the small side. If the farmer with limited acreage wants to field shell corn with a minimum investment in machinery, he should take a long look at a com head for his regular pull-type combine. For drying consider the elevator in town or a neighbor with extra drier capacity. Storage of high moisture shelled corn or ear com silage is developing at a rapid rate in areas of heavy cattle feeding. Even hog producers have found high moisture grain a satisfactory feed as long as the feeding system is mechanized so that hogs can be For the man who wants to change over from ear corn harvest to shelled corn harvest gradually, the picker- I shelter is ideal. Early in the season when grain moisture ■ ranges from 25% to 28% the shelling attachment is A used to fill in-storage drying units. Later on when corn A moisture is down to 20% the shelling unit is changed and corn is picked and stored in a crib. Some farmers ^B will then go back to shelling and sell "over-flow" corn V direct from the field. The picker-sheller won't achieve W quite as high harvesting efficiency as the corn combine ■ since it is equipped with conventional snapping rolls V which will shell some corn that can't be recovered. ' A careful check on moisture is an absolute must if you are drying shelled corn for sale. Overdrying is very costly. Most specialists recommend drying down to about 16% to 16.5% moisture before sale. You'll take a small moisture discount but it costs very little since the extra moisture sold will just about make up the difference. Trying to hit 15.5% moisture (to make corn No. 2 grade) on the nose will often result in overdrying. A moisture check taken on corn right from the dryer won't be the same as after waiting several hours. It's a good idea to seal the sample in a fruit jar and check it about six hours later after it reaches normal room temperature. Also check the moisture at the time the sample is taken from the dryer. By comparing the two you'll be able to work out a conversion chart to help you estimate moisture properly when checked from the dryer.