Silage Corn Cultivars
Silage corn varieties developed at the Florida
Agricultural Experiment Station, an
agricultural and natural resource research program of the University of
Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), are
made available through Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc.
If you are interested in obtaining a license or
would like to purchase seed, please contact
the Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc.
'Tex-Cuban'
Silage Corn
Description: Dairy farmers build feed rations around three components including primarily fiber, protein and starch. In Florida, starch is readily available from concentrated and inexpensive sources such as hominy and corn meal. Less plentiful is a quality forage that is palatable, enhances rumination, stores well, and easily mixes into the dairy ration. ‘Tex-Cuban’ is the result of a silage corn breeding program aimed at the development of a tropically adapted variety with more protein yield and more effective and digestible fiber that enhances rumen function. These qualities ultimately contribute to improved animal health and longevity through reduced ruminal acidosis and displaced abomasums. ‘Tex-Cuban’ is an open pollinated variety that can grow up to 13 ft. tall. It is a visibly robust plant with more leaves of greater length and width. Unlike a typical temperate dent hybrid, ‘Tex-Cuban’ produces a white flint type kernel. It is grown, harvested and managed just like any corn variety, but is more tolerant of adverse conditions.
Desirable Features:
- Improved insect and disease tolerance
- Better adaptation to heat and late season planting
- Superior silage yields at eight out of nine dairy farms trials over a 4 year period and statistically better 95% of the time
Variety Fresh Yield Percentage (%) Adjusted Yield Dry Matter
(tons/acre) Dry Matter @ 30% D.M. (tons/acre)
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Tex-Cuban 22.7 28.4 20.9 6.43
Hybrids 20.5 30.3 19.2 6.05
- Significantly higher (10%) protein yields produced per acre (1033 lbs vs 940 lbs).
- 21% higher sugar levels (6.37% vs 5.25%)
- 8.5 % better Phosphate removal, and ‘Tex-Cuban can be grown on less P2O5 fertilizer.
- Reasonable seed prices: Seed is grown and marketed by Florida growers.
- Easy to grow.
Recommended Uses:
- As a refugia variety with “Bt” Hybrids
- In late spring plantings
- For cropping systems that require high volume of quality forage and higher yields
Where can you obtain seed of 'Tex-Cuban'? Please contact FFSP.
License Availability: FFSP is currently seeking non-exclusive licensees for the USA and exclusive licensees for other territories not already licensed. If your company is interested in obtaining a license, please contact FFSP.