Soil health and corn silage performance: Comparing grain and dairy field systems

Soil health is a key focus of corn growers who are working towards sustainability goals and safeguarding their operation against increasingly challenging growing conditions. Understanding the contributing factors that lead to resilient cropping systems in the Northeast is important for farmers to meet those goals. With funding support from the New York Corn Growers Association Corn Research and Education Program, soil health data was collected from the Cornell PRO-DAIRY?s NY Corn Silage Hybrid Evaluation Program in 2023. The annual hybrid evaluation program offers the opportunity to compare the same hybrids in different growing environments. Measuring key soil health parameters at each location with the Cornell Assessment of Soil Health (CASH) test offered additional insight into the role of soil health in the overall performance of the crop grown at each location.