There are a number of factors to consider in assessing how to
price corn standing in the field for silage.  One is the
potential returns from harvesting for grain and the cost of
combining, drying and storage. With current commodity prices,
these returns are high.   A second is the cost of the nutrients
removed in the silage. With the price of P and K, these can be
high.  Another factor is the potential grain and silage yields.
With our variable crop this year, these can vary as well, since
some corn has not eared well and others have a low silage yield,
but a high grain yield.   Another factor is the going price for
cured silage since a grain crop without ears will have some
silage value even if it doesn’t have much potential for grain.  
To address these issues our Dairy and Crops team members have
developed an excel spreadsheet which allows users to enter their
own numbers to estimate silage pricing from the perspective of
either using the crop for grain or comparing it to the value of
cured corn silage c