Nutritional value of growing corn plants

[BenAllgood]

I know corn kernels don't contribute much in the form of nutrition besides energy, but has anyone seen nutritional values for growing corn leaves (fresh growing).

 

[yoderjac]

I have not seen anything on that, but I'm not sure it matters, If deer are eating corn leaves, folks have much bigger habitat/deer density issues. When deer are eating corn leaves, they have very few other options.

 

[Native Hunter]

Here you go Ben:

Maize leaves, fresh | Feedipedia

www.feedipedia.org

 

[BenAllgood]

I have not seen anything on that, but I'm not sure it matters, If deer are eating corn leaves, folks have much bigger habitat/deer density issues. When deer are eating corn leaves, they have very few other options.

I thought that until very recently when I saw something that made me question it. It may have something to do with the whorls.

 

[yoderjac]

Ben,

I've seen individual deer take a few bites of all kind of plants that are not on their normal diet. I'm not sure why. It may be they are just testing a food source or something. I know when I first started planting brassicas, they were not used for a few years. It took deer a while to get used to them as a food source.

You must have a different observation to be considering the nutritional value of corn whorls. Want to share it with us?

 

[BenAllgood]

Ben,

I've seen individual deer take a few bites of all kind of plants that are not on their normal diet. I'm not sure why. It may be they are just testing a food source or something. I know when I first started planting brassicas, they were not used for a few years. It took deer a while to get used to them as a food source.

You must have a different observation to be considering the nutritional value of corn whorls. Want to share it with us?

I was talking to my farmer a couple of weeks ago, and he said he ran 19 deer out of the corn field. I found that odd because I've got probably 15 acres of early succession plants next to it. I have strawberry bush that gets browsed, but still exist. That's one of the indicator plants of not being over carrying capacity. never seen that many deer at one time on my property. Then, I was watching a video where Lee Lakosky was doing some work for a specific buck, and he was showing a cove of a corn field where they had eaten it down very low and he was going to turn that end into a greens field. He mentioned something about corn being high in protein at a certain stage. And, we all know the deer on his farms don't want for much.

 

[Native Hunter]

Deer will eat corn silage just like cattle. Lots of hunters use it as bait. With silage, you are getting the whole plant (grain, cob, leaves, stalks). Since silage is an important cattle food, lots of research has been done into the nutritional value, and the website I listed above has all of that.

Maize silage | Feedipedia

www.feedipedia.org

 

[yoderjac]

I was talking to my farmer a couple of weeks ago, and he said he ran 19 deer out of the corn field. I found that odd because I've got probably 15 acres of early succession plants next to it. I have strawberry bush that gets browsed, but still exist. That's one of the indicator plants of not being over carrying capacity. never seen that many deer at one time on my property. Then, I was watching a video where Lee Lakosky was doing some work for a specific buck, and he was showing a cove of a corn field where they had eaten it down very low and he was going to turn that end into a greens field. He mentioned something about corn being high in protein at a certain stage. And, we all know the deer on his farms don't want for much.

Very interesting.

 

[BenAllgood]

Deer will eat corn silage just like cattle. Lots of hunters use it as bait. With silage, you are getting the whole plant (grain, cob, leaves, stalks). Since silage is an important cattle food, lots of research has been done into the nutritional value, and the website I listed above has all of that.

Maize silage | Feedipedia

www.feedipedia.org

Thanks Steve. Those tables show some interesting numbers. Maybe those deer are targeting some nutrients more easily accessible in those corn plant parts they're selecting for. They're concentrate selectors, so it makes sense.