Free app helps farmers price standing corn silage
WAUPACA - With corn silage season already underway, or just around the corner, pricing standing corn silage is a popular question among farmers and the Ag service providers that support them.
To help determine a fair price when buying or selling corn silage, UW-Extension agriculture agents Greg Blonde and Ryan Sterry developed a free Android app last year that can quickly estimate the value of standing corn silage.
The app is based off a detailed spreadsheet Sterry developed with input from several state Extension specialists. With more than 700 downloads and 350 users in the last twelve months, the app’s link to current corn and hay market prices is a popular feature, yet it also allows buyers and sellers to enter their own yield estimates and harvest costs.
The difference in value of soil nutrients removed when harvesting silage versus corn for grain can also be calculated helping sellers fine tune their standing value per acre. The app is free and available for Android smart phones and tablets at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smartmappsconsulting.cornsilagepricing&hl=en or just search the Google Play Store for “Corn Silage Pricing”.
“The Corn Silage Pricing mobile app not only allows farmers, Extension Educators and other Ag professionals to access current market information for both grain and hay at the same time, it’s a convenient tool to determine the value of standing silage for buyers and sellers alike,” said Blonde.
The app features separate tabs for buyer and seller calculations. Using both tabs will show establish a silage value price range, with the Seller tab being a price ‘floor” and the Buyer tab a price “ceiling”.
"With lower prices for dry shell corn and low quality hay this year, it won’t be a surprise to find standing corn silage values in the $20-25/ton range," said Blonde. "But that’s why we developed the app, because every field and every situation is different”.
“Pricing Standing Hay” and “Pricing Wet Corn” are also available at no cost on the Google Play Store. For more information contact Greg Blonde, 715-258-6230, greg.blonde@ces.uwex.edu, or Ryan Sterry, 715-531-1930, ryan.sterry@ces.uwex.edu.