Grain Sorghum
Management Options
TAWC, January 20th
Brent Bean
USCP Agronomist
Why Sorghum
Drought tolerant crop, but responds well to
additional water
Long planting window
Rotation benefits for cotton
Improved control of resistant weeds
Lower input costs compared to many other crops
AMS Approved
Compare Input Costs
Example: Seed Costs
Sorghum
Corn
Cotton
Population Cost*
Population Cost*
Population Cost*
30,000
$5
16,000
$54
39,000
$48
60,000
$10
24,000
$82
45,500
$56
90,000
$15
32,000
$109
52,000
$73
* Based on 2015 TAMU AgriLife D-2 Enterprise Budgets
AMS Approved
Minimizing Crop Inputs in a Low
Commodity Price Environment
 Minimize seed costs
 Use lowest seeding rate to meet yield goal
 Soil sampling and testing
• Including deep sampling for N
 Maximize irrigation efficiency
• Timely application, efficient system
 Weed control
• Compare costs of herbicides
• Adjuvants – use only what is necessary and proven
 Insect control
 Scouting and timely application is critical
AMS Approved
Pre-Plant Decisions
 Hybrid Selection
 Seeding Rate
 Date to Plant
 Irrigation Plan
 Weed Control Plan
 Insect Control Plan
AMS Approved
Hybrid Selection
Characteristics
Sources of Information
 Adaptability to the
region
 Yield, Yield, Yield
 Standability
 Days to maturity
 Drought tolerance
 Insect tolerance
 Seed Company
Representative
 University Extension
 Good Sorghum Growers
in the Area
 Sorghum Checkoff
Webpage
AMS Approved
Hybrids Identified with Some SCA Tolerance
Major
Comp/Brands Hybrid
Pioneer
83P17
Pioneer
Maturity
Med-Full
Major
Comp/Brands Hybrid
Richardson
Swift
Maturity
V. Early
83P56
Med-Full
Alta
AG1201
Early
DeKalb
37-07
Med-Early
DeKalb
Sorghum
Partners
Sorghum
Partners
Sorghum
Partners
Richardson
Pulsar
Med-Early
SP 7715
Med-Full
Alta
Alta
Mycogen
AG1301
AG1203
627
Med-Early
Med-Early
Med-Early
Mycogen
1G688
Medium
SP 78M30 Med-Full
SP 73B12
RS260E
Med-Full
Med-Full
Richardson
Sprint W FG Med-Early
Richardson
Jowar I
AMS Approved
Full
B&H Genetics BH 4100
Medium
B&H Genetics BH 3400
V Early
Warner Seed W-844-E
Med-Full
Channel
Fontanelle
Other Regional Brands
Seeding Rate
Managing water resources for
maximum grain production
Seeding Rate
 Dryland Yield
Component % Contribution
Seeds/Head
57 %
Heads/Acre
12 %
Seed Wt.
12 %
 Irrigated Yield
Component % Contribution
Seeds/Head
40 %
Heads/Acre
32 %
Seed Wt.
23 %
 Grain Wt per Head
•
•
AMS Approved
Range 0.06 to .17 lb/head
Assume 0.1 lb per head, then need 30,000 heads to produce 3,000
lbs of grain
Seeding Rate and Harvest Index
 Harvest Index is the ratio of grain produced vs total above
ground plant weight.
 Range
 0.35 to 0.55
Low Harvest Index
AMS Approved
Modified from
High Harvest Index
http://www.reganpdesigns.com/illustrations/
6,000 lb
107 bu
Seeding Rate
Yield per Acre
4,000 lb
71 bu
Optimum Population 16,000 – 32,000
2,000 lb
35 bu
10
20
30
Plant Population (1000/Acre)
AMS Approved
40
50
Seeding Rate
Seeding Rate
per Acre
30,000
50,000
70,000
90,000
AMS Approved
Yield Goal
3,000 - 4,500 lb
60 – 80 bu
5,000 – 7,500 lb
90 – 135 bu
8,000 - 10,000 lb
145 - 180 bu
Greater than 10,000 lb or 180 bu
Planting Date
 Planting date should
be tied to soil
temperature and
rainfall patterns
 Sorghum can be
planted when the soil
temperature reaches
60 F and seven day
forecast is for warm
weather
AMS Approved
Water Management
Sorghum requires 6 to 8 inches of
water just to grow the vegetation
necessary to produce any grain
Yield response will increase 500 to 600
lbs of grain per inch of water after the
6 to 8 inches has been received.
If 20 inches are available then a 7000
lb yield is obtainable
AMS Approved
Available water holding capacity of area soils
Soil Description
Avail. Water in 3 ft.
(inches)
Sherm Silty Clay Loam
6.57
Olton Clay Loam
6.12
Pullman Clay Loam
5.94
Acuff Loam
5.71
Dalhart Fine Sandy Loam
5.67
Amarillo Fine Sandy Loam
5.20
Grandfield Fine Sandy Loam
4.80
Brownfield Fine Sand
3.36
AMS Approved
Increasing Soil Water at Planting
 Maintain as much crop residue
as possible
 Every tillage operation cost
you at least some soil
moisture
 Control winter and early spring
weeds with herbicides
 Consider not only a
glyphosate application, but
a herbicide with some
residual control
AMS Approved
Sorghum Daily Water Use
20 Yr Avg, Bushland, TX
3 gpm/acre
AMS Approved
Corn, Sorghum and Cotton Maximum Water Use
20 YR AVG 1991-2010, Bushland, TX HP-PET Network
0.45
Corn 34.5 inches
Sorghum -- 26.8 inches
Cotton 25.6 inches
Daily Water Use, Inches
0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
3 gpm/acre
Corn:
May 1 – Sep 15
Sorghum: May 15 – Oct 15
Cotton: May 15 – Oct 31
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
2-May
AMS Approved
2-Jun
2-Jul
2-Aug
2-Sep
2-Oct
Yield per Inch of Irrigation Water
Field Demonstrations
Crop
10 Years TAMU
9 Year TAWC
Yield per Acre-Inch of Irrigation Water
Wheat
Corn
Corn Silage
Grain Sorghum
504 lbs
519 lbs
1.25 Tons
552 lbs
474 lbs
526 lbs
1.2 Tons
527 lbs
Sorghum Silage
Cotton (lint)
1.52 Tons
47 lbs
1.8 Tons
98.2 lbs
TAMU – Mid 90’s to Mid 00’s
TAWC – 2005 to 2013
AMS Approved
Sorghum Water Use Efficiency at Different
Irrigation Levels
Irrigation
Amount
(% of PET)
0
AMS Approved
Water Use Eff.
lb/ac-in
Irr. Amount
Eff.
lb/ac-in
102
25
279
518
50
420
572
75
422
527
100
385
452
Schneider et. al. Water Front. Feb 2003
Yield, bu/Ac
Sorghum and Corn Response to Water
325
300
275
250
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
AMS Approved
Sorghum Krieg 485 lb/in
Corn Krieg 600 lb/in
Sorghum Schnieder 425 lb inch
~ 15 in. Irr
~ 10 in. Irr
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37
Total Water (inches)
Corn 600 lb/in
Sorghum 485 lb/in
Sorghum 425 lb/in
Timely Irrigation Management
Moore County, Etter - Stallwitz
25.00
Yield = 5400 lbs/Ac
21.00"
Total Use (Inches)
20.00
Cumulative PET
15.00
Rainfall
Irrigation
10.00
Hard Dough
Flag Leaf
Flowering
6.79"
5.00
3.75"
0.00
6/15/2001
AMS Approved
7/6/2001
7/27/2001
8/17/2001
9/7/2001
9/28/2001
Optimizing Sprinkler Irrigation
Water
 Always apply a minimum
of 0.75 inches of
irrigation water at a time
 1.0 to 1.5 is better
 Minimizes evaporation
loss, this adds up over
the season
• 6 applications x 0.2
inches = 1.2 inches
or 660 lbs (12 bu).
AMS Approved
Grain Sorghum in a Cropping System
 Use in Rotation
 Improved yields with cotton and
soybeans planted the following year
 Provides residue for improved soil
erosion control and precipitation
retention and storage
 Breaks up insect and disease cycles
 Improved control of resistant weeds
 Use in optimizing irrigation
capacity
 Utilize planting dates of different
crops to apply irrigation during key
growth stages
• Cotton/Sorghum
• Corn/Sorghum
AMS Approved
AMS Approved
40 inch Single Row Spacing vs
Double 12 inch Spacing
Yield, lb/Ac
7000
6000
15% Yield
Increase
40 inch
Double 12 inch
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
30 DAP
45 DAP
72 DAP
Irrigation applied 30, 45 and 72 days after planting
AMS Approved
Musick, USDA
Summary
AMS Approved
Consider crop input costs
Pre crop and in-season weed control
Use minimum seeding rate for yield goal
Optimize irrigation water by
 Maintaining crop residue
 Less frequent but higher water application rate
 Time water application to key growth stages and soil water
storage
 Timely SCA scouting and insecticide application
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Brent Bean
USCP Agronomist
Ph: 806-674-0006
Email:
brentb@sorghumcheckoff.com
Website:
sorghumcheckoff.com