A bigger dairy industry needs more corn silage

When it comes to utility crops in Tulare County, corn rates high. But not just any corn: Silage corn.

In 2007 the crop soared in everything — from harvested acreage, per acre and total production, to per unit and gross value —­ according to the 2008  Tulare County Crop Report.

The reason?

Tulare County has a growing dairy industry, according to Assistant Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer Bill Appleby, The value of milk rose 61 percent from 2006, and makes up 39 percent of the county’s total value — nearly $1.9 billion.

“Silage has probably been in line with dairy needs,” Appleby said.

In fact, increased value of forage products — corn, alfalfa and small grain silage — provided the bulk of a 28 percent annual increase in total value for field crops. Corn, both gains and silage, ranks sixth on the county’s top commodities list with a value of $146.3 million.

Some farmers have begun to switch to corn from other crops, like cotton, Appleby said.

“Maybe because the cotton prices are not that good, the farmers are wanting to get out of that business and grow corn,” Appleby said.

Corn grows well in the county’s climate, he said. Corn that is grown for grain to be made into ethanol is more typical in the Midwest, though it has also increased steadily in acreage here, he said.

Sweet corn makes up a very small portion of the county’s corn product and actually decreased in harvested acreage this past year.

But silage remains strong in production and value.

The corn growing business was a natural professional direction for Josh Pitigliano — a partner of Pitigliano Farms. The family business opened in 1975.

“I’ve grown up in farming all my life,” Pitigliano said.

About six years ago, after majoring in Agribusiness at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, he came back to his family farm. He has since partnered with his father and two brothers, growing several crops, including corn. Rather than owning a corn field, they grow the crop for other growers, he said.

The business also produces wheat, alfalfa, wine grapes, raisins, almonds and pistachios.

“We are very diversified. We do a lot out here,” Pitigliano said. “The [crops] all have their own challenges.”

The challenge with corn?

“[The challenge] is keeping the accurate moisture, keeping it properly irrigated,” Pitigliano said. “All the corn grown here [in Tulare County] is irrigated, which adds to our growing cost. We don’t have Mother Nature irrigating it for us. We do it ourselves.”

Production costs skyrocketed in 2007, including a 300 percent jump in the cost of fertilizer, an increase of $2 per gallon for fuel, a 34 percent increase in the cost per bag of corn seed, and a 50 percent rise in the cost of insecticides and pesticides.

Although the price of corn in Tulare County is being driven by strong dairy demand, Pitigliano said, “It’s not enough.”

The crop yielded $34 per ton last year, but this summer he predicted a yield of $45 per ton. That is an increase, he said, that pales next to the input cost.

“These costs are cutting into our profits,” Pitigliano said.

About 90 percent of all corn grown in the county goes to feed for cattle. The rest is mainly grain corn, and a very small portion is sweet corn.

Pitigliano only works with silage corn. He tries to produce about 35 tons per acre of corn for every field he manages.

He has a business goal that will ideally produce greater returns.

“We are trying to grow a better quality of corn so that maybe the dairymen have to buy less commodities from the mills,” he said.

Dairy cows require protein, which is usually found in rolled corn that would need to be purchased from an outside source.

But the county-wide demand for silage is high, and Pitigliano wants his crop to meet dairy needs.

“With the shear number of dairy cows in this county, it’s all for here,” he said this summer. “So far it’s been a great growing season. The bugs have been minimal, as of today. It could change tomorrow.”

“The weather plays a role with the amount of heat. [When it’s hot], corn — whether you have it irrigated or non irrigated — is stressed.”

The annual crop takes from 110 to 120 days to grow after it is planted, he said. It must be maintained throughout the growing season with irrigation, fertilization, pesticide application, a planting schedule and harvest timing.

“It’s fast paced. You wouldn’t think, but it is a very quick crop,” Pitigliano said. “One hundred and twenty days is nothing. Everything needs to be timed to grow a good yielding crop.

“As long as dairies are in this area, there will be corn here. It’s necessary.”

-- Contact The Recorder newsroom at 784-5000, Ext. 1043.