Sorghum biomass and nutritional value with various nitrogen rates in a limited production environment.

From 2002 to 2007 the sales of cattle increased 36 percent in value and appeared to continue increasing (2007 Census of Agriculture, 2007).  The state of Kansas is ranked number two in the total sales of cattle in the United States (2007 Census of Agriculture, 2007).  The total production expense of cattle has increased 12.6 billion over this period with feed being one of the five major expenses (2007 Census of Agriculture, 2007).  With the amount of cattle production in Kansas it is beneficial to develop additional forage options.

            Forage sorghum and corn yields are comparable under irrigation with corn and sometimes forage sorghum can require up to 40% less irrigation (Bean et al., 2005; Angadi et al., 2009).  This depends on what variety of forage sorghum is planted.  Photoperiod sensitive sorghums yield the highest but have the lowest quality (Bean et al., 2005).  BMR sorghums have comparable nutritional value, but the yield around 10% less (Bean et al., 2005).  The forage sorghum can potentially yield more than corn does under dry land conditions.

Previous research in the Texas high plains has compared the nutritional value of forage sorghums and corn (Bean et al., 2005).  Forage sorghum yield was comparable to corn and in-vitro digestibility was similar for both crops.  Sorghum yield was comparable to corn and it used considerably less water under irrigation conditions.  Sorghum could be more competitive under dry land conditions vs. irrigation.