Harvest at the right moisture, pack well and seal tightly.

Those were key tips from Brian Holmes, Ph.D., for corn silage growers attending the recent Silage Pit School in Turlock, California.

Farmers and ranchers from 11 Western states were invited to enter the 2013 World Ag Expo Forage Challenge.

Entries were judged in three categories: alfalfa hay, brown midrib (BMR) corn silage and standard corn silage.

In its third year, the U.S. Custom Harvester Chopper Challenge continues to pit self-propelled harvesters against one another in the same field.

For the 2012 challenge, five choppers cut down a 1/4-mile field length. The corn was planted in 38-inch rows; the choppers made two rounds and covered about 3 acres.

Enjoy this short slideshow of some of the things we saw at World Ag Expo 2013, and watch your March 1st print issue of Progressive Forage Grower for more details!  FG

How management affects baleage fermentation; hay moisture meters unmasked and demystified; and what we know about hay preservatives today and what we might expect in the future were just three of the topics covered in a series of Hay and Pasture Conferences recently held in Maryland and Delaware.