Sorghum Sudan Grass

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XCRanch

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Does anyone have any experience with continuous grazing sorghum sudan grass? I saw a Texas A&M study where they did it, but I am afraid of nitrate or prussic acid poisoning. Our field is 30 days old and approx. 2 ft. tall. I would like to give the cows access to this field continuously through summer and fall.
I know the recommendation is to graze intensively then remove the cattle. But it sure would be nice to turn them onto this field continuously. Hope someone has done this in the past.

Thanks
 
I've grazed it till there wasn't anything left to graze then moved them. I never had any problems with either of the things you mentioned. Did have some eye problems but I don't know if I can blame this totally on the ssx. Seems like you are more prone to problems when the forage is drought stressed after a fertilizer application but I may be wrong.
 
I grazed it down and then moved the cows off until proper regrowth. The prussic acid is a problem in young regrowth, that is why you should not do continuous.
 
We waited until it was about 8 feet tall and turned a group of pairs and a bull in around the end of July/start of August. Grazed it until there was nothing left. Worked really well, and gave out cool-season grasses a rest during the hot, dry part of our year. My understanding is prussic acid is a concern after a zinger of a frost, and the nitrate poisoning is a concern after a heavy rain following a period of drought.

I don't know how many acres and how many cattle you are planning on continuously grazing. We put about 30 pairs on 10 acres and it held them for a month.
 
hayray":2rs7ceyj said:
I grazed it down and then moved the cows off until proper regrowth. The prussic acid is a problem in young regrowth, that is why you should not do continuous.
If you take them off before it gets too short I believe it will have better regrowth. I am not certain on that. Doesn't make sense to hammer it and wipe it out when you could have growth throughout the growing season.
 
Yes, as I remember there was a point were you should not graze below the growing point. I got two grazings on mine. I planted the bale and graze variety of the Garst company. I believe nitrat poisoning is frost related. In years with excessive growth it is advisable to test the crop to prevent poisoning.
 
hayray":3w1opkfa said:
Yes, as I remember there was a point were you should not graze below the growing point. I got two grazings on mine. I planted the bale and graze variety of the Garst company. I believe nitrat poisoning is frost related. In years with excessive growth it is advisable to test the crop to prevent poisoning.
Actaully it STRESS related
anything that stresses the plant such as ,drought, frost or excessive nitrogen fertilizer applications can cause nitrate buildup
 
Thanks for all of the advice. We only have a small place and I planted 2 acres in sorghum-sudangrass. We have 6 cows and a spotter steer. We are getting a lot of water from the Hurricane in the Gulf. I think I can turn in our cows and they won't catch up to this field until Fall. I fertilized and planted the day before we got almost 3" of rain and now we are getting more rain. This field as portions that are taller than the fence already.
 

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