Among gardeners, fodder corn is especially popular. It is grown on an industrial scale to be used as livestock feed. You will learn about its features, as well as the most common varieties from this article.

What is fodder (feed) corn

Feed corn is the common name for the varieties of a given plant that are used by gardeners to provide a nutritious diet for their animals. This product contains all the useful substances that their body needs for normal development.

This food is used especially intensively before slaughtering animals, since it helps to increase their weight. In winter, this element of the diet provides the body of the pet with the necessary energy to heat the body.

Differences between fodder and edible corn

Knowing the main signs, it is not difficult to distinguish forage plants from food plants.

Did you know? Quickly distinguish between these two varieties can be, by trying to crush a corn kernel with nails. If this happens without much effort, and milky juice remains on your hands - this is a food culture. If the grain is not easy to crush because of the hard skin - this is a forage crop.

Where is growing

Food and feed varieties prefer different temperature conditions. The first are grown in regions with a warm climate. The latter love a cooler temperature.

Appearance

Grains of food plants - light beige color. This corn forms thick short cobs of the same color. The color of the fodder plants is saturated yellow or orange. Their ears are long and bright.

Taste qualities

After cooking, food fruits become soft, with a sweet aftertaste. Feed feeds differ: after cooking, they have little juice, and the grains taste hard.

Is it possible to eat fodder corn

Fodder crops can also be consumed by people - they contain no less useful substances for the human body than food. For example, Saratov sugar corn can be boiled and canned. And from the Golden Fleece variety, a quality delicacy is prepared for children, boiling the ears in the stage of milk ripeness.

Important! It should be noted: you need to cook forage ears much longer than food, because their peel is harder. The average cooking time is 90–180 minutes.

The best varieties of feed (feed) corn

Pay attention to the varieties of feed intended by farmers and their main characteristics.

Pearls

This variety is very much appreciated for its good taste. He is not exposed to disease. Technical maturity occurs 75 days after germination. Plant height - 1.8–2 m. Cob weigh up to 250 g; their length is 18–20 cm. The color of the grains is bright yellow. This corn is high-yielding: from 1 hectare you can collect from 10 to 12.5 tons of grains.

The Golden Fleece

This is an early ripe high-yielding variety. The height of the plant is 170 cm. The ears weigh about 170–220 cm. Their length is up to 22 cm. The grains are wide, bright yellow.

This variety tolerates adverse weather conditions; in addition, it is resistant to disease.

Aurika

This is an early ripe variety: technical maturity occurs 76–80 days after germination. Culture is not affected by disease. The cobs weigh on average 220 g; their length is up to 20 cm, and their diameter is 4–4.5 cm.

Did you know? The color of the ears can be not only the usual yellow, but also red, black, and purple. There is a Glass Gem variety, on the cobs of which a variety of colors are combined: green, blue, pink, etc.

When grown on fertile soils, it gives a high yield - 20 tons per 1 hectare. The variety has excellent taste and marketability.

Viola

This species also belongs to early ripening. Ripening occurs after 70 days. The fruits have good taste and marketability. The plant is resistant to disease. The cobs are large - up to 330 g. Their length is 16–20 cm. Lemon-colored grains. Productivity - from 11 to 14 tons per hectare.

Kuban early ripe

The variety is early ripe, high-yielding. On average, 1 ton of corn can be harvested per hectare. Technical maturity occurs on 82–89 days after germination. Plant height - 150 cm. Corn has thick ears of average length of 30 cm. The plant tolerates adverse weather. It is also resistant to disease.

Saratov sugar

The variety is resistant to cold and drought. The height of the plant is 140–210 cm. The length of the ears reaches 18 cm. Its mass is 150–190 g. The color of the grains is yellow-orange. The variety has good taste.

Use of feed varieties

Fodder grains are loved by different pets. They are used in processed form (feed). They are added to the birds in the main feed mixture. Feed culture should not exceed 40% in the diet of birds (except for chickens), otherwise they will begin to accumulate fat.

The norm of corn for laying hens is 20% of the total amount of feed, otherwise their egg production will rapidly decrease.

When overfeeding piglets, their layer of fat increases, and the meat becomes watery, tasteless. You can also not overfeed other types of domestic animals, as this causes a decrease in their productivity and activity.

Important! In winter, the amount of feed corn in the diet of all animals should be increased to 15%. This will provide their body with the necessary vitamins and make it easier to transfer the cold season.

In addition, feed crops are used for the manufacture of flour, starch, glue, ethanol, etc.

Feed corn is a valuable crop with a wide range of applications. Use it according to the advice from our article and get huge benefits from it.