Keys to Improve Digestibility of Corn Silage.

Keys to Improve Digestibility of Corn Silage. Why is breaking up the corn kernel so important to starch digestibility? Luiz Ferraretto, assistant professor of livestock nutrition at the University of Florida and speaker at the Silage for Beef 2018 Conference held in June in Nebraska, answered that question and offered additional advice to producers about how to improve the digestibility of their corn silage. The outside shell of a kernel that’s protecting everything inside is called the pericarp, and it's very hard. “If you throw an intact kernel into the rumen of a dairy or beef cow, it's not going to be digested because the pericarp inhibits digestion,” said Ferraretto. “The first thing you need to do is to eliminate the protection, and the way to do that is by breaking more kernels.”