A data set of 1796 commercial samples of corn silage assessed for nutritive value by NIR was utilized to generate population descriptive information for the dairy industry in Brazil. Representing silage samples were harvested in the year of 2014 and came from 13 states. Corn silage data were queried from a commercial database and population descriptive statistics were generated with MS excel. Average NDF and starch content were 50% and 24% of DM with a SD of 6.67 and 8.05, respectively, suggesting Brazil corn silage is of lesser energetic value. Typical US corn silages average 44 and 29% NDF and starch for comparison. Rumen in vitro NDF digestibility and predicted in vivo TTNDFD (total-tract neutral detergent fiber digestibility) values exhibited substantial variation, with CV ranging from 15.8 to 38.1, suggesting that opportunity exists to improve forage quality. The database presented here showed a great variation in carbohydrate content (NDF and starch) and NDF availability (TTNDFD). To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies documenting corn silage produced in Brazil variability. With the variation in important nutrients and measurements presented here, there may be potential for genetic selection and improvement for Brazilian growing conditions. Selecting for lower NDF, greater starch and greater fiber digestibility, including greater TTNDFD, will result in hybrids that allow for greater milk production. Table 1.

Item	CP	NDF	Starch	Sugar	Fat	Ash	NDFD			TTNDFD
at 24 h	at 30 h	at 48 h
Median	6.9	50.5	25.1	0.9	3.4	3.3	16.4	24.8	40.2	36.9
Average	6.9	50.8	24.5	1.1	3.3	3.3	16.0	24.5	39.9	36.8
SD	1.0	6.6	8.0	1.0	0.7	0.9	6.1	5.7	7.0	5.8
CV	14.5	12.9	32.6	90.1	21.2	27.3	38.1	23.3	17.5	15.8

¹All units are % of DM; NDFD = NDF digestibility.