# Sorghum for hay



## bushy65 (Feb 6, 2008)

I have been told that sorghum in your country is only used for silage? Here we grow it for summer hay production,& chop it for silage, but a hell of alot goes into bales for cattle feed. Here are some pics of my 15 acre paddock of sorghum that i will be baling inside the next month weather permitting, i will post some picks when we bale.
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj17/bushy65/DSC02301.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj17/bushy65/DSC02303.jpg


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

Nice lookintg stand of sorgum bushy! I wish things looked as nice around here last summer. We had the worst drought on record and pretty everything took a big hit that needed water.


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## bushy65 (Feb 6, 2008)

We have been struggling with the dry times here as well, we were on an knife edge as to wether to sell all the stock or buy water in for them. After last winters crop of oats on the same ground failed badly due lack of miosture i decided this year to plant heavier and try and get as much up on the rain we might get. But it has quite literally not stopped raining here all summer, we have had just a shade over 300 mls in the last two months and the sorghum is starting to show it now. It is great to look out the windows and see green instead of brown for a change.


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## Simpleprestige (Apr 20, 2007)

Yeah, we are joking now that it has rained more here in January and February than it did all last summer. Everything died, but its not as bad as it is in Tennessee.


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## urednecku (Aug 29, 2007)

Yes, a nice looking field! Good luck with it. 
I think we have gotten more rain here in central Fl, at my place anyhow, in Jan & Feb than we did all summer. I planted a hay field in a pasture that should have been too wet to plant in mid July, but couldn't see the roller from the dust. Did NOT have enough come up to cut. Had to BUY hay for the cattle.


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## hackware (Sep 14, 2011)

how much care does sorghum require to grow...?

looking for winter feed for some burros and goats...

william...


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

Sorghum is in the corn family (well they are all in the grass family) and loves nitrogen. Make sure your soil has adequate nitrogen and if not, you should fertilize either with manure or commercial products. Other than that and making sure you don't have a field with a bad weed problem, its very easy to grow. We use it as a filler when you have a wet spring and don't get all the land worked in time for corn. We'll just go back later in spring/summer and work the former low spots and plant it to that. It makes a good forage, but you have to be careful with it. Talk to a local county agent or your seed supplier about the dangers of sorghum or sudan grass. They can build up nitrates in the plant that can kill your animals if the growing conditions are especially bad, or after a frost. You also want to wait until the plants are tall enough or they can be toxic to certain animals.


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