sorghum

[circlew]

Our local feed store had a fellow order some sorghum earlier in the year for doves. The guy never got his seed. The owner of the store said he would sale me the seed at cost to get rid of it. I am just wondering if its to late to plane any. I will cut it for hay and I figure one cutting is all I would get. The field I'm wanting to plant is real rough and was used for produce up until about five years ago. So I've been planning to plow it up and level it anyway and I thought it would be a good time to try some sorghum.

 

[novatech]

Have you put a pencil to it? With just one cutting the expense of planting would hardly seem to be justified.

 

[1982vett]

Depends on other hay availability and what it costs...(seed $80 an acre? Fertilizer $40 an acre?) Then do you think it will rain enough to grow anything worth cutting...(baling $25?) You will need about 6-8 inches over 10-12 weeks for it to grow well. So you roughly have $30 a bale in seed and fertilizer plus baling cost (25) in each bale @ 4 bales to the acre... or $55....@ 2 bales an acre you have a cost of about $85 a bale which is still $30 cheaper than what many paid for "hay" in this area last year...

Two years ago it rained in September and it grew well into December....so your guess is as good as mine as what to do.

 

[bird dog]

If the seed is cheap enough it might be worth planting for grazing. Even if he sells the seed at his cost it is probably still expensive compared to years not coming out of a drought in areas where the seed is grown. Or at least that's the way it was here. Seed was much higher than 2011, like 75% more.

 

[Banjo]

Our local feed store had a fellow order some sorghum earlier in the year for doves. The guy never got his seed. The owner of the store said he would sale me the seed at cost to get rid of it. I am just wondering if its to late to plane any. I will cut it for hay and I figure one cutting is all I would get. The field I'm wanting to plant is real rough and was used for produce up until about five years ago. So I've been planning to plow it up and level it anyway and I thought it would be a good time to try some sorghum.

Is there any danger of prussic acid if grazed under drought conditions?

 

[TexasBred]

Our local feed store had a fellow order some sorghum earlier in the year for doves. The guy never got his seed. The owner of the store said he would sale me the seed at cost to get rid of it. I am just wondering if its to late to plane any. I will cut it for hay and I figure one cutting is all I would get. The field I'm wanting to plant is real rough and was used for produce up until about five years ago. So I've been planning to plow it up and level it anyway and I thought it would be a good time to try some sorghum.

Is there any danger of prussic acid if grazed under drought conditions?

More likely change of nitrate poisoning if you fertilize it. Down here the stuff is well of $30 a bag....pretty expensive grazing and/or hay.

 

[circlew]

He told me I could get the sorghum for 24 a bag. Also priced pearl at 40 a bag at our local coop. It was 82 a bag in May. So I may go with the pearl.

 

[Bigfoot]

I might be wrong isn't milo just dwarf sarghum. Seems like it would be cheap to plant milo from a grain bin, not store bought bushel bags. Seems like if you sewed it thick, it would make good hay. Certainly not as tall, but you could afford to sew it thick by saving on the seed cost.

 

[circlew]

I decided to go with pearl. Ran a chisel plow thru the field Thursday and disked it good yesterday and planted then planted the seeds and covered it. Finished about dark. The field needed a good plowing.