Anaerobic Storage Characteristics of Whole-Ear Corn and Stover

Whole-plant corn has been previously investigated as a biomass feedstock. Current approaches are analogous to harvesting whole-plant corn for livestock feed or biogas production. They include utilizing a self-propelled forage harvester to harvest the plant as a bulk material and storing it anaerobically. This process leads to grain damage, reducing the marketability of the grain after fractionation. This work investigated a process that included harvesting and anaerobically storing whole-ear corn with corn stover as an alternative. Over two harvest seasons, dry matter losses, moisture content changes, and grain damage were assessed after anaerobic storage. Less than 3% grain damage was observed across all treatments. Stover moisture decreased by 3% to 7% wet basis. Depending on the harvest year (p < 0.001), grain moisture content increased by 7 to 10 percentage points wet basis (p = 0.012). Cob moisture increased by about four percentage points wet basis regardless of harvest year (p = 0.49). Dry matter losses for the overall treatment were less than 3% across both harvest seasons, but high variability was observed when reviewing the losses in the ear and stover fractions. Based on this work, whole ear storage should be considered where subsequent grain fractionation and the marketability of the grain fraction are a concern.