A36-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, May 12,1990
By Dr. John E. Baylor
Director of Market Development
Beachley-Hardy Seed Company
ANNUAL FORAGES -
ANOTHER LOOK
Some call them emergency for
age crops. Others call them sup
plemental forage crops. In either
case, they’re referring to that
group of warm season summer
annuals (mainly grasses) that can
be planted in late May and June
and will produce an abundance of
forage in as little as six to eight
weeks. These warm weather annu
al crops are generally not ideal for
hay, but among the annuals, there
are crops that make excellent sup
plemental pasture, green crop or
silage. And they are heat tolerant
and very productive when mois
ture and fertility are adequate.
Here’s a run-down on your
choices for this year.
Multi-Harvest Annuals
Of the warm season summer
annual grasses, the sudangrasses
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have the finest stems and are usu
ally higher in digestibility than the
sudan-sorghum hybrids at com
parable stages of growth. Howev
er, they are usually lower yielding.
Piper sudangrass is still the most
widely grown variety. It is the
lowest in prussic acid potential
and is normally the choice for pas
ture. However, sudangrass can be
made as hay if drying conditions
are favorable.
Sudangrass hybrids produce
somewhat more forage than Piper
but also may have slightly greater
prussic acid potential. However,
this difference is small and with
good management the sudangrass
hybrids are fine for summer pas
ture as well as green crop and
silage.
Sudangrass-sorghum hybrids,
such as Beachley-Hardy’s RS 11,
are usually much higher yielding
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than Piper and are used mostly in a
green crop or silage situation.
They have coarser stems and do
have a higher prussic acid poten
tial than Piper, and must be man
aged more carefully during the
summer and fall.
These multi-harvest, warm sea
son annual grasses can be planted
in late May or June and will usual
ly be ready for grazing or green
crop about six to seven weeks
after planting. They can be no-till
seeded in stubble or sod, or drill
planted on a prepared seedbed. In
the absence of a soil test 50 to 75
pounds each of N, P 2 Os and K 2 O
worked into the seedbed before
planting is desirable. In general,
seeding rates of 30-35 pounds per
acre for the sudangrasses or 35-45
pounds per acre for the sudan
sorghum hybrids are adequate. If
you plant a sudan-sorghum hybrid
specifically for silage a mixture of
soybeans (90 lbs. per acre) and the
hybrid (25 lbs. per acre) can be
used.
Piper sudangrass can be grazed
when it reaches a height of 18”
with no danger of prussic acid - a
two-foot height is recommended
for sudangrass hybrids. If properly
fertilized and managed these crops
can normally be grazed two or
three times during the growing
season. The sudan-sorghum
hybrids should reach a height of
2Vi -3 feet before grazing or chop
ping. At earlier stages, the forage
will be higher in quality but may
contain unsafe levels of prussic
acid. If cut at a stubble height of
five to six inches they will recover
rapidly for a second crop.
If harvested for direct-cut silage
these crops should be allowed to
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reach the early head to early
bloom stage of growth. If
harvested for silage at more
immature stages wilting is desir
able. While hay made from these
crops harvested at the more imma
ture stage is fair to good in quality,
field curing can be a serious prob
lem; thus the use of a hay condi
tioner is essential.
Sudangrass is generally super
ior to the millets except on cold,
poorly drained soils where Japan
ese Millet seeded at the rate of 15
pounds per acre is occasionally
used for pasture, green chop or
hay. This millet, however, pro
duces little or no aftermath
growth.
One Cut Annuals
The drought and heat tolerant
forage sorghums grown alone or
with soybeans can be grown for
Contest Tests Skills
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producers can try their hand at
evaluating a hog’s fat thickness
and muscling by participating in
the Lean Value Contest sponsored
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Live hogs will be available for
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Lean Value Contest gives adults
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silage in place of corn. Under
favorable growing conditions
adapted com hybrids harvested as
silage are said to yield slightly
more feed per acre. However, the
sorghums are more drought resis
tant and less subject to damage
from deer where deer feeding on
com is a problem. When grown
alone, row plant at the rate of 8 to
12 pounds per acre. Fertilize as for
com. If grown with soybeans use
90 pounds per acre of beans and 6
to 8 pounds of sorghum. Harvest
for silage when the sorghum is in
the soft to medium dough stage of
growth.
It’s too early to predict the
moisture conditions for this sum
mer. Thus planting some acreages
to a summer annual could be a
good hedge against the unknown.
Other prizes and their sponsors in
the adult division are a manure
tanker, Balzer Manufacturing
Corporation; a Caribbean cruise,
Smith-Kline Animal Health; a 100
foot flex auger system, Chore-
Time Equipment Company; alu
minum livestock gates. Sands
Livestock Systems; and additional
prizes. Walnut Grove.
Youth 18 years old and younger
also can test their livestock evalu
ation skills and compete for 10
cash prizes that will be sponsored
by Monsanto Agricultural Com
pany. The first-prize winner in the
youth division will be awarded
$5OO.
The results of the Lean Value
Contest will be computed after the
Expo, and the winners will be not
ified of their prizes.
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