As the 2025 corn silage harvest approaches, it’s clear that the final stretch of the season will play a significant role in your herd’s performance and profitability. To help you prepare, we’ve gathered key takeaways from John Goeser’s recent Hoard’s Dairyman coverage and research on this year’s crop.

This season has brought plenty of variability across the Midwest. Maybe your fields look like Minnesota’s record-setting stands, or perhaps you’re dealing with the compressed harvest windows seen in parts of Wisconsin and Michigan. No matter your situation, the choices you make now will determine whether your silage delivers on its full potential.

With corn silage representing more than $2 per cow per day in feed costs, the way you manage harvest timing, cut height, and disease risk in the coming weeks will directly impact both forage quality and your bottom line. Star Blends is here to help you and your nutritionist align those agronomic decisions with your feeding program, so you can balance rations, protect milk output, and stabilize costs as the season wraps up.

Critical Metrics for Dairy Cow Response

When you think about how this year’s silage will feed, you need to focus on how your cows respond at the bunk. Several key metrics determine whether your forage translates into milk and components:

  • Dry Matter Intake (DMI): Higher-quality forage can improve intake potential, while lower fiber digestibility often limits how much cows consume.
  • Eating Behavior: Particle size and fragility matter. Silage that’s too coarse or too fragile can change how cows sort and consume rations.
  • Milk Components: Butterfat and protein yield are more closely tied to feed conversion efficiency than raw milk flow, making forage digestibility a cornerstone of profitability.
  • Undigested NDF (uNDF): Reducing uNDF by raising cut height or harvesting at the right stage improves both digestibility and intake potential.
  • Starch Digestibility: Kernel processing and grain hardness influence how much of the crop’s energy actually becomes available in the rumen.

By focusing on these factors beyond simple tonnage, your silage can support milk volume while also improving component yield and overall herd efficiency.

Midwest Corn Silage Crop Outlook for 2025

The 2025 growing season has been unique in that drought has not been a major concern. Many growers have had adequate to above-average rainfall, creating unprecedented August-to-September conditions compared to recent years. But remember, wetter starts to the season often mean lower fiber digestibility, so that’s something you’ll need to watch closely.

If you’re farming in the Midwest, you’ve likely noticed big differences across the region:

  • Minnesota: Fields are tall and even, with record potential and strong starch development.
  • Wisconsin:
    • Western WI: Taller plants and higher ears, sometimes second ears. High chopping may favor tonnage.
    • Central WI: Variable stands from June rains, with dew creating some disease concerns.
    • Eastern WI: Strong crop but a compressed harvest window as heat sped up maturity.

These regional differences mean you can’t take a one-size-fits-all approach. You’ll need to adapt your harvest plan based on what’s happening in your fields.

How to Handle Expanded vs. Compressed Harvest Windows

One of the biggest questions you’ll face this harvest season is: Do I have more time, or less? This year, some farms are working with expanded harvest windows, while others are pressed by compressed windows.

  • If your harvest window is compressed, you’ll need to start earlier with less mature corn. This means communicating closely with your harvest crew or custom operator to protect forage quality.
  • If you’re in an expanded window, you have more flexibility, but you’ll want to balance tonnage with quality. Prioritize fields based on maturity and moisture levels, not just convenience.

Don’t rely on moisture alone as your harvest guide. Focus instead on crop maturity and quality factors like starch and fiber, which drive 75–85% of the energy in your silage.

Corn Silage Cut Height: Yield vs. Quality

Cut height is one of the few harvest decisions fully in your control. Raising your cut height to 8–10 inches or more can boost starch levels and fiber digestibility, while reducing undigested fiber.

Here’s what that means in practice:

  • Choosing a higher cut may cost you some tonnage, but it can improve digestibility enough to yield an extra +1.5 pounds of milk per cow per day with minimal added cost.
  • If you’re in Western Wisconsin, you may prioritize tonnage, but in most other areas, quality gains from higher chopping could be worth more to your ration and milk check.

If you’d like to test scenarios for your own fields, UW–Madison offers a Corn Silage Cutting Height Calculator to help you weigh quality versus yield.

Late-Season Corn Disease Management

You’ve likely noticed that disease hasn’t been as aggressive this year, thanks to favorable weather and proactive fungicide use. But you should still be walking your fields and watching for:

  • Southern rust, grey leaf spot, and tar spot, particularly in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana
  • Weak or stressed plants, where digestibility may decline.

Many growers have increased fungicide use this year, which has helped hold disease in check. If you’ve applied fungicides, you may be in better shape, but don’t assume you’re safe. Walking your fields now can save you from big losses later.

Optimizing Kernel Processing and Grain Quality

Kernel processing is another area where your management makes a big difference.

  • Aim for a Kernel Processing Score (KPS) of 75–80 to maximize starch availability. Multiple samples will give the most accurate reading.
  • Grain density and bushel weight may be higher this year, which means more protein and harder kernels. That can affect how your cows digest the grain and how your rations should be balanced.

Paying attention to both processing consistency and kernel quality will help you get the most energy out of this year’s silage crop.

Balancing Forages Beyond Corn Silage

If your hay or haylage yields struggled with mid-season rains, you’re not alone. Many producers across the Midwest saw excellent first cuts but weaker second and third cuttings. That reality places even more importance on your corn silage harvest this fall, as it will need to cover gaps left by inconsistent haylage.

This is where Star Blends comes in. With custom rations, commodity contracting, and reliable feed delivery, we help you adjust when silage quality or quantity falls short, so your cows never miss a beat and your costs stay under control.

Finishing Strong in the Fourth Quarter of Corn Silage Season

The 2025 Midwest corn silage crop has the potential to deliver above-average yields and strong energy density. But whether you capture that value depends on the decisions you make right now:

  • How you manage a compressed or expanded harvest window
  • Whether you raise your cut height to prioritize quality
  • How well you scout for disease and optimize kernel processing

With $2 per cow per day in feed costs on the line, every harvest decision carries financial consequences as well as agronomic implications.

Looking Ahead: Planning for 2026 Hybrids

While you’re making critical decisions for this harvest season, it’s also time to start thinking ahead. High-performing dairies are already evaluating 2026 hybrid choices with a focus on:

  • Fiber Digestibility Potential: Choose genetics that hold up in variable growing environments.
  • Starch Content & Grain Quality: Prioritize hybrids with strong grain fill and consistent kernel processing scores.
  • Disease Resistance: Select hybrids less susceptible to tar spot, southern rust, and other pathogens that continue to pressure Midwest crops.
  • Plant Stature & Harvest Flexibility: Consider whether taller hybrids fit your strategy or whether shorter-statured hybrids that balance starch and fiber better match your rations.

By pairing this year’s harvest results with forward-looking hybrid decisions, your farm can maintain forage quality and profitability well into the 2026 feeding season.

If you are aiming for an even more progressive approach to optimize your Corn Silage feeding strategy be sure to check out silage separation with The FODD!

Star Blends Steps Up when Silage Falls Short

It pays to work with a partner who understands your crops and your cows. At Star Blends, our experts collaborate directly with you and your nutritionist to rebalance rations when silage quality shifts, protect milk output with custom feed formulations, and stabilize costs through commodity contracting. With our Easy Fill delivery programs, you can be confident your herd gets what it needs when it needs it. Contact Star Blends today to align your harvest decisions with a feeding program built for performance and profitability.