Re: corn, the grain of choice

[Guest guest]

> that one reason corn is the grain of choice for livestock

> rations is because it contains minute but essentially

> sufficient amounts of vitamin A...at least in combination

> with the hay and any silage or other chopped well stored forage.

Hi :

I can't see any farmer growing corn as animal feed because it

contains minute amounts of vitamin A. I can see farmers growing

hybrid corn as animal feed because such corn can be grown on low

fertility soil and, when it is fed to animals, it will cause the

animals to get fat. The reason animals eat so much corn that it makes

them fat is that corn is deficient in tryptophane, methionine and

lysine. This deficiency causes a " hidden hunger " for the missing

proteins so the animal continues to eat without being able to satify

this hunger. When you are about to kill an animal for market, there

is no harm in making it unhealthy, it's going to die anyway. Besides,

you know you get more money for it when the animal weighs more.

Hybrid corn is better animal feed than open pollinated corn because

its lower protein content makes it easier to grow on deficient soils

as well as being better at fattening the animal. With less production

of protein than the open pollinated, the hybrid corn is thus able to

produce higher yields per acre with its higher carbhydrate content.

By the way, enjoy your peaches and cream corn. It's a hybrid.

Chi