Corn Stalk Rental Rates
Crop residue makes excellent forage to graze the cow herd on this fall and helps prevent volunteer corn in the field the following growing season. With many corn fields around, farmers and ranchers can work together and find a way to utilize the residue as a benefit for adding nutrients and gaining feed access that benefits each party, respectively.
Determining the price for this exchange is variable by agreement and is often set as a per acre or per animal per day rental agreement. Rates may vary from $5 to $10 per acre to $0.50 to $2.00 per head per day.
Factors that go into determining the price include amount of corn left in the field, fence and water availability. Per acre arrangements guarantee a set income for the field owner. While per head per day agreements have a lot more moving parts including calculating grazing days and stocking rate.
Rental Rate Factors
- Amount of residue in the field.
High yielding corn will leave more residue and increase the fodder available and grazing days. - Water availability.
Is rural water or a stock dam available? If not, is hauling water possible or can above ground bulk storage tanks be used while temperatures remain above freezing? - Fence.
Is a full fence available or does electric fence need to be set up? The opportunity to graze is limited by labor needed to set up fence and maintain it during winter conditions. - Stocking rate.
Paying per day allows the cattle owner flexibility on grazing a field for a short period of time at a higher stocking rate before moving onto another field. Revenue per day will be similar for the fodder owner if 100 cows are grazed for 10 days as 25 head for 40 days. - Grazing time.
If fields become available late fall or early winter for grazing, considerations for snow covering the available fodder may change the grazing rate from per acre to per day option. If snow cover appears and fodder is not accessible, the cattle owner can save their funds for other feed costs. An option to bale corn stover and sell by the ton is one way to help remove some residue before planting the next crop if the field owner desires. - Category of cattle.
Cattle will consume dropped corn, leaves, and husk in order of nutrient quality. The option to graze calves and yearling cattle exists for a high roughage, growing diet. Consider grazing calves ahead of the cowherd to clean up ears once they are weaned. - Compaction concerns.
The University of Nebraska and Iowa State University have done multi-year research to evaluate compaction concerns from grazing. The results of these studies have found minimal to no compaction issues depending on tillage systems. They also reported limited compaction on frozen ground, so removing the cows before spring thaws will help mitigate that concern.
Final Rental Rate Factors
Fields with good access, fence and water are generally rented at a higher rate. Rural water taps also have been put in fields to increase grazing access and improve soil health. Writing down the agreement and intentions of both parties is important. If the cattle and field owner want to work together based on monitoring the forage availability this needs to be understood before grazing begins. Formal rental agreements are a good practice even during short term grazing programs.
