Sorghum grass

[moose maniac]

Anyone ever grow sorghum grass for their cows? Just wondering how it went

[hillbillyreefer]

What kind and for what purpose? Grazing, silage, green feed swath graze? There is a lot of different varieties, much like corn.
I’ve grown grain sorghum. It’s slow to start and not competitive until long after emergence. It needs warm ground to germ, lots of heat, a long seasonand moisture to grow.

I’m probably going to put some in a mix for grazing this year. Sorghum-Sudan.

[moose maniac]

Originally Posted by hillbillyreefer

What kind and for what purpose? Grazing, silage, green feed swath graze? There is a lot of different varieties, much like corn.
I’ve grown grain sorghum. It’s slow to start and not competitive until long after emergence. It needs warm ground to germ, lots of heat, a long seasonand moisture to grow.

I’m probably going to put some in a mix for grazing this year. Sorghum-Sudan.

Was thinking the sorghum Sudan maybe with some oats and vetch and bale it for greenfeed

[Northwinds]

I grew it several years ago,tried grazing it as well as silaging.Protein was to high for pregnant cows but was fantastic for calves.I found much more than 60 lbs of N and it wanted to lay down.You want your soil very black and clean.Wait until mid to late June and seed with the forecast of rain.I seeded right around 1" deep.It takes a while to get going but once it starts,you can expect around 3" of growth per day if the moisture is good.Early august the sugars start and it turns a reddish tinge,if you cut a stock and suck on it,it is amazingly sweet.When silaged,this sweetness is present and calves go nuts over it after the first mouthful.Harvest is usually early september.,the crop should be 7 feet high at that stage if all goes well.Would be a fantastic place to release pheasants in!!

[hillbillyreefer]

IMO that would make some fantastic feed. My biggest concern would be the oats choking it out before the SS gets going. The other concern is Prussic acid production if the plant is steressed, I doubt it would be a big issue, but the potential does exist.

What kind of Vetch? Hairy?

The mix I’m working on for this year will be oats, barley, YBSC, peas, chickling Vetch, a brassica, and wildoats lots and lots of wild oats. After grazing/cutting, a mix of peas and tuber radish will be knifed in.