Our Perspective
Corn Stover: A renewable way to increase corn availability while improving soil health
By Jack Vivrett, sustainability writer
Posted 7 months ago
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After harvest, the stalks, leaves and cobs that remain in a cornfield serve a variety of important functions. Referred to as corn stover, these leftover materials help maintain and improve field quality as they decay, adding organic matter that enriches the soil and improves nutrient retention, thereby increasing the chances for better yields in the coming growing season. In addition, this natural soil cover can reduce erosion and, in dryer regions, serves as an important tool for moisture retention.
As corn yields increase, however, the amount of stover produced also increases, and too much stover in the field can lead to interference with planting and stand establishment of the upcoming crop. As such, excessive stover must be removed, which can translate into additional management costs for farmers who need to run additional tillage passes to speed residue breakdown or reduce corn in their rotations. But these management costs can be offset by additional revenue streams from the harvested stover if the excess residue can be harvested in an economic manner. One of the most attractive options for additional income from this harvested stover is local feed markets for livestock.
High potential for stover as animal feed stock
Corn stover, when treated to improve the digestability of its sugars, can replace all of the roughage and some of the corn in cattle diets.
Monsanto is working with industry partners to research ways in which corn stover can be sustainably harvested to help displace corn in animal diets. Commercially available equipment, including large round and square balers, rakes and specialized staging equipment can be used to harvest stover in large quantities today. Continued innovation in harvest equipment should improve farmers' abilities to reduce costs, increase the speed of harvests and improve the sustainability of stover harvests.
Advantages offered to farmers by effective and sustainable stover harvests
Profitable stover harvests offer growers an attractive residue management option and serves to increase the value of a corn acre. For livestock producers, extensive feeding of stover and other grass residues, frees up grain to sell for other uses. All told, stover provides a good example of how expanding markets and uses for crops offers ways forward for the continued increase of agricultural outputs across the globe.
