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Move over corn silage, sorghum is coming for you

New research on sorghum is finding certain varieties can be more beneficial in rations than corn silage.

Private consultant and researcher Thomas Kilcer with Advanced Ag Systems LLC compares gains from male-sterile sorghum to a beef steer.

“It produces yields equal or exceeding corn,” he says.

Kilcer tells Brownfield the crop’s digestibility improves when left in the field six to eight weeks after heading and has higher protein levels.

“When we put that forage in the diet, it equals corn silage in milk production but because it’s a higher crude protein, it allows us to reduce the cost by taking out some of the expensive cost of soybean meal,” he explains.

He says sorghum is also less susceptible to corn tar spot which can help in regions where outbreaks are growing. And, Kilcer says sorghum is a grass that makes it fit into grass-fed rations for beef and dairy. However, seed supplies at the moment are tight.

Kilcer was a featured speaker during the recent Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference.

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