southernultrablack
Well-known member
Has anyone tried this? I think I'm going to plant several acres later on this summer to leave as winter stockpile. Gonna try to start grazing mid/late November.
Stockpiling Sorghum Sudan
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CalumetFarms
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I looked a little into doing that a couple years ago, cause it tons out so well. A friend of mine always plants a lot of it after 1st cutting and he recommended I plant it, but said I should bale it for silage like him instead of grazing due to the prusic acid toxicity it can have after a frost or drought period, cept I don't have a bale wrapper. Kind of like johnson grass, which I have stockpiled. I let the JG get good and dead after several hard frosts before I graze it to be safe. As long as you time it right I think you'd have quite a stockpile.
I'd love to plant the stuff to bale but know I'd never get it to dry down.
southernultrablack
Well-known member
I planted some one year for baleage, cows liked it but left a fair bit of stalks. Tried to make dry hay out of the regrowth but never did get it dry!
Seems much cheaper to let the cows harvest it.
Otha
Well-known member
I have done it 3 or 4 times. Year before last I actually bought a standing crop from a neighbor to graze. Only reason it didn't work as well as planned was we got 3 snow storms. Usually we get one every 3 years. Anyway I like to do it. I try to strip graze it with poly wire because they will run around eating all the seed heads first and knock a lot of it down. Then they go for the good leaf and knock some more down. Then finally they finish the leaf and eat a little of the finer stalks. So the less you give them the more you get out of it. If you could find some variety that would not produce seed heads before the frost got it that would be great.
Mark Reynolds
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There are lots of varieties. Most have a considerable amount of stalks to deal with. However, there is at least one variety that was mentioned somewhere on this forum that has been developed specifically to have considerably less stalks but produce the same volume of leaves, which is what counts. If you liked the forage the first time around but not the stalks, track this variety down and try it. It is a BMR variety, don't remember beyond that. Less stalk will also mean it will dry better, but maybe still not enough.
I grazed some this past winter, a poor stand and a broke down swather so I went for it. I gave them strips of the sudex but before that they had access to the rest of the quarter cleaning up the crabgrass and bermuda waterways plus a few acres of grass.
They done well giving them another strip once a week by moving the poly wire ahead of them. Sometime after the first of the year I noticed they were loosing a bit of condition and started feeding some 37% cubes twice a week.
If I was to do it again with a plan I would plant some old open pollinated varieties and see if they stood and held leaves better.
The biggest problem is getting a good killing freeze and killing the sorghum dead, it can be frustrating waiting for that to happen.
They done well giving them another strip once a week by moving the poly wire ahead of them. Sometime after the first of the year I noticed they were loosing a bit of condition and started feeding some 37% cubes twice a week.
If I was to do it again with a plan I would plant some old open pollinated varieties and see if they stood and held leaves better.
The biggest problem is getting a good killing freeze and killing the sorghum dead, it can be frustrating waiting for that to happen.
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
Good way to kill a bunch of cows.
Freeze frost is asking for trouble.
Prussic Acid Poisoning - Oklahoma State University
Management and testing methods for prussic acid poisoning.
extension.okstate.edu
Mark Reynolds
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I see that you are at least aware of the potential for prusic acid toxicity, but do be very careful, and don't take it for granted. As you can see by the other posts here, it can be and has been quite successful and provides a good stockpiled forage. Realize that one or two light frosts will cause prusic acid toxicity potential and you will have to wait several days after the frost before the standing forage is safe to graze, but also realize that until it is completely killed by a hard frost, each subsequent light frost is going to create an accumulation of prusic acid and grazing cannot take place until this has dissipated after EVERY event until the grass is completely dead. Don't let this scare you away from using it as it can be a great forage, but also be careful and don't 'make a mistake'.
fnfarms1
Well-known member
I think that was in my thread about seeding rates. The variety I bought he referred to as a dwarf variety. Normal hay grazer gets to 13ft, mine said would be 5ft but same amount of leaves. So not as much to age if chopping but for grazing it's ideal. Advice I've seen is 2wks-month after frost to avoid grazing it to avoid prussic acid. Also keep it from being grazed last 8-10inches due to most nitrates being in stem. Said top portion and leaves should be ok.
Management, it's not difficult to deal with, simply make sure it is dead and not going to sucker back up. The prussic acid will evaporate after freezing in a couple of weeks. Nitrates don't leave.Good way to kill a bunch of cows.
Freeze frost is asking for trouble.
Prussic Acid Poisoning - Oklahoma State University
Management and testing methods for prussic acid poisoning.
wbvs58
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Otha
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It's defiantly not a risk free feed. However it can be a very cheap winter feed source. Just have to manage the risk according to your operation.
