On-Farm Impacts of Soybean Silage in an Annual Rotation with Corn Silage

There is a tremendous interest on dairy farms in Vermont and other New England states in producing soybeans for silage to be harvested with corn silage to enhance crude protein and energy in mixed silage being fed to dairy cows. Especially, since we now have soybean varieties that can produce 4 ton of dry matter per acre and crude protein levels of 24.5% and net energy lactation in megacals/lb of 65 on a dry matter basis. I want to also look at the impact of soybeans in our annual crop rotation with corn. I want to evaluate reduction in nitrogen applied which impacts ground water, economic viability and field operating efficiency. I have a 15 acre field that we want to plant in strips of two rows of corn and two rows of soybeans. These will be harvested for silage, stored and fed after fermentation to our dairy herd as a major part of their ration. This should improve our feed quality and reduce our feeding costs or increase our gross sales for high protein milk. We will be planting both crops at the same time and harvesting both at the same time. This should reduce our field operating costs through better efficiency.