••••
T RADE N E W S
A forage sorghum
for every purpose
WÈAN BENADIE
AGRICOL SORGHUM
CROP MANAGER
F
orage sorghum is one of the
most popular annual crops
for to the following reasons:
• Very high volumes of roughage
are produced.
• It can be used in a number of
ways, namely silage, standing
hay, grazing and green-chop.
• It is well-adjusted for a number
of soil types.
Sorghum species also have a number of characteristics which enable
them to deal with drought conditions more effectively than other
crops, namely:
• Sorghum has a fine and
branched adventitious root
system, which means that soil
moisture on marginal lands in
particular can be utilised more
effectively.
• When environmental conditions become unfavourable,
sorghum has the ability to stop
growth and to resume growth
again when conditions become
favourable.
• Sorghum species have a waxy
layer on the leaves to prevent
desiccation.
• When conditions become unfavourable, the sorghum plant
has the ability to roll up its
leaves, which reduces the transpiration area of the plant.
Producers must attempt to manage
their fodder flow as effectively as
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possible in order to have sufficient
high quality feed for their animals
on a continuous basis. In order
to achieve this it is recommended
that a forage sorghum be planted.
Forage sorghums with different
growth classes can be used to
extend the animals' utilisation
period. It should also be borne
in mind that different forage sorghum cultivars can be planted for
specific purposes.
AGRICOL, the leader in pala
table, high-yield forage sorghum
cultivars, offer producers a forage
sorghum for every purpose in order to ensure the latter. For grazing
purposes there is no match for
the very popular SupaSweet. This
cultivar, with an aggressive initial
growth and regrowth, renders top
yields in any production system.
The high sugar content of Supa
Sweet makes it ideal for early season silage and it can also be used
as standing hay.
For unequalled silage yields
Agricol brings you Hunnigreen
and HoneyMax. Both of these
sweet sorghum hybrids are in a
class of their own when it comes
to bio-mass for silage. Hunnigreen
and HoneyMax are ultra-late
flowering types of forage sorghum,
which means that these hybrids
are photo period sensitive. The
latter is also the reason for these
hybrids’ high yields and it means
that Hunnigreen and HoneyMax
usually only become reproductive
when the daylight hours are below
12 hours and 20 minutes. The
value of Hunnigreen and Honey
Max is in their versatility and
OCT/NOV 2016 • SENWES Scenario
they have no competition when
it comes to volumes when cut for
silage. They can also serve as an
excellent source of standing hay
for the winter.
AGRICOL also offers an excellent package of Sorghum x Sudangrass forage sorghum hybrids in
the form of Superdan and Niagara
II. Both cultivars have excellent
regrowth abilities and are an excellent source of feed for cattle and
sheep.
For prussic-free utilisation the
hybrid babala cultivar (Pennisetum
glaucum) Agrigreen can be planted. It is suitable as green grazing
for horses, cattle and sheep and
this product can be utilised from
4-6 weeks after planting. It also
has good regrowth characteristics.
Forage sorghum, the right type
for the right purpose, can be cultivated successfully under a variety
of conditions. For any enquiries
regarding a world class forage sorghum package, please contact your
nearest AGRICOL agent or one
of our expert marketers for further
information.
• Henk Crafford
Western Free State
078 459 4833
• Johann Badenhorst
Northern Free State
060 587 5626
• Wèan Benadie
Sorghum Crop Manager
063 253 2000