Determining a Value for Corn Silage

Pricing silage crops can be much more challenging than pricing grains, since they are not sold as routinely and, therefore, do not have a readily known market price. The following is a brief discussion of some methods for determining prices for various types of silage. Even though arriving at a price for silage may be more difficult, basing the cost of the silage on the market value of grain provides a strategy to arrive at a price for corn silage that can be used by both the crop grower and livestock producer.

Keep in mind that the moisture content of silage is an important factor that needs to be accounted for when determining a pricing strategy. Since silage should contain 50-70 percent moisture (toward the upper end of the range for corn silage and a bit lower for alfalfa or grass silage), the amount of actual feed or dry matter varies greatly and should be taken into account. Determination of the silage dry matter is necessary to arrive at the actual amount of feed that is harvested from a field.

Corn Silage

There are a number of methods and formulas that may be used to determine the value of whole plant corn silage. A “quick and dirty” method to determine the price of corn silage is simply multiplying the price of a bushel of corn grain by a factor of 8-10. However, the use of more detailed methods will provide estimates that more closely reflect the value of the corn silage and result in prices that are more transparent for both the grower and the purchaser.

Tools are available to help corn growers and dairy and livestock producers negotiate a fair price for corn silage. University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension has developed a spreadsheet and a worksheet for hand calculations to assist in spot pricing for standing corn silage. https://cropsandsoils.extension.wisc.edu/articles/tools-for-pricing-standing-corn-silage/