Forage Sorghum: Technical Data Sheet

Why choose forage sorghum?

Ensuring quantity and quality

• Heat tolerance: Sorghum can grow at temperatures up to 40°C, unlike corn, which stops growing at 30°C.
• Energy value: Sorghum derives its energy value from sugar, not starch. Once the dry matter (DM) content reaches 25%, one UFL point is achieved.

3 agronomic advantages

• Root system: Fibrous, dense, branched, and deep (more than 1.70 m).
• Rolling the leaves: Reduces the surface area exposed to evaporation.
• Contains cerose: Protects against evapotranspiration.

Producing with less water

• Water requirements: Half as much as corn (150 mm versus 275 mm).
• Water efficiency: Better than corn (42 kg DM/ha/mm H₂O vs. 30).
• Drought tolerance: Sorghum stops growing but remains green and resumes growth after rain.

Making Better Use of Nitrogen

• Nitrogen removal: 240 kg N/ha for a yield of 13 t DM/ha.
• Efficiency: 0.74 kg N/ha/mm H₂O compared to 0.33 kg N for corn.

What types of sorghum are there?

Single-cut forage sorghum

• Harvest: All at once, after 100 to 140 days of growth.
• Use: As silage for ruminant herds or as biomass for anaerobic digesters.

Multi-cut forage sorghum

• Harvest: In several stages (grazing, mowing for silage/hay/green forage).
• Categories :
  • Hybrids: High yield potential, vigorous growth habit.
  • Sudan Grass: Early maturing, high tillering and regrowth capacity, thinner stems and leaves.

What does BMR stand for?

Effect on lignin content

• BMR (Brown Mid Rib): A brown midrib that inhibits the production of synapyl alcohol, a major component of lignin.
• Result: Lignin content reduced by 75% compared to non-BMR sorghum.

Digestibility

• Lignin: Reduction of 40% to 60%.
• Digestibility: Increase from 15% to 30%.
• UFL/UFV: Increase from 10% to 15%.
• Ingestion: Increase of 10% to 15%.

What are the nutritional values?

Comparison of Nutritional Values

• Stability: Nutritional value increases as the plant matures.

The Benefits of Sorghum in Cattle Rations

A burst of energy

• Sugar content: 25–28% (glucose, sucrose, levulose).
• UFL: 1 UFL/kg of dry matter.
• Reduced risk of acidosis: Starch content of 2% to 8%.
• Advantage: Does not reduce the feed's nutritional value, even with 30 to 50% sorghum.

Highly digestible fiber and cellulose

• NDF: 52% to 57%.
• Cellulose: 24–28%.
• Benefits :
  • Maximizing saliva production.
  • Better regulation of rumen pH.
  • A denser fibrous lining of the rumen.
  • Better breakdown of corn kernels.
  • Reduction of bypass starch.

Increased intake

• Digestibility: Maximized with 30% sorghum in the diet.
• Digestive transit: Faster, with a 10–15% increase in absorption.

What are the effects on cattle?

In dairy cows

• Milk production: On the rise thanks to improved energy efficiency.
• Milk quality: Improved butterfat and protein content.
• Reduced costs: Lower cell rates, lower healthcare costs, and improved fertility.

Heifers

• Development: Improved growth; calving at age 2 is achievable.

For cull cows and finishing

• Improved finishing: With an average daily gain of 1,940 g.

In suckler cows

• Improved cyclicity and reproduction: Reduction of the IVV by 30 to 40 days.

Calves with their mothers

• Growth: Weaned at 270 days and 360 kg, average daily gain of 1,150 g/day.

Young bulls

• Growth: Average daily weight gain of 1,400 to 1,600 g, reduced mortality due to acidosis.