Paul Mitchell

Determining Grain Equivalents for Snaplage and High Moisture Corn for CFAP

By pdmitchell

Matt Akins, Luiz Ferraretto, Bill Halfman, Paul Mitchell

PDF Version

 

This tool helps a farmer calculate grain equivalents for snaplage and high moisture corn for including in 2019 production for determining CFAP payments.

Begin by downloading the Fractionated Silage to Corn Bushel Calculator spreadsheet: https://aae.wisc.edu/pdmitchell/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2020/06/SnaplageHMCtoCornGrain.xlsx.

Step 1: Enter the dry matter percentage in yellow cells for Snaplage, HM ear corn or HM corn, whichever ones are needed, or use the default values.

If the inventory is known

Step 2: In the yellow cells, enter the tons of Snaplage, HM ear corn or HM corn as fed.

  • The equivalent bushels of corn grain at 15.5% moisture are reported in peach below.

If the inventory is not known

Step 3: In the yellow cells, enter the inventory volume as cubic feet for Snaplage, HM ear corn or HM corn, whichever ones are needed.

  • If the volume is not known, there are calculators or links to spreadsheets to calculate the volume of a silo, silo bag, bunker or pile.

Step 4: In the yellow cells enter the feed density as pounds of DM per cubic foot or use the defaults for Snaplage, HM ear corn or HM corn.

  • The equivalent bushels of corn grain at 15.5% moisture are reported in peach below.

 

Example: Inventory known

  1. On January 15, 2020, estimated inventory was 800 tons of snaplage, 40 tons of HM ear corn and 100 tons of HM corn
  2. Dry matter percentages are 65% (35% moisture) for snaplage, and 73% for HM ear corn and corn (27% moisture).
  3. In the peach cells, the spreadsheet calculates corn grain equivalents of 17,582 bu for the snaplage, 1,111 bu for the HM ear corn and 3,085 bu for the HM corn, for a total of 17,582 + 1,111 + 3,085 = 21,779 bu of corn grain equivalent.

 

Example: Inventory unknown

  1. On January 15, 2020, estimated volume of inventory was
    • Snaplage: 12,566 cubic ft in a silo (20 ft diameter x 40 ft filled height) based on the calculator
    • HM ear corn: 6,736 cubic ft of in a silo bag based on the calculator (8 ft bag, 150 ft of plastic, tied off at both end with 8 ft of bag = 134 ft of bag length)
    • HM corn: 9,249 cubic ft of high moisture corn in a silo bag (8 ft bag, 200 ft of plastic, tied off at both end with 8 ft of bag = 184 ft of bag length).
  2. Feed densities were left at respective default values of 35, 40 and 45 lbs of DM per cubic ft.
  3. In the peach cells, the spreadsheet calculates corn grain equivalents of 7,436 bu for the snaplage, 5,125 bu for the HM ear corn and 8,796 bu for the HM corn, for a total of 7,436 + 5,125 + 8,796 = 21,356 bu of corn grain equivalent.