A SPECIAL PRODUCERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ® C A L I F O R N I A Dairy & Livestock ®
University of California researchers harvest sorghum being grown for forage in file photo above. Studies at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center show sorghum can be grown using one-half to one-third the water required to produce other forage crops.
Photo/Ching Lee
Dairy farmers evaluate sorghum as forage source ByBob Johnson
attraction—comes in part from its ability to mine the soil for moisture with roots that go down at least 10 feet. “We got asmuch as 8.5 inches of extraction fromthe soil at Kearney, whichwas pretty muchall thewater therewas,” saidUCCooperativeExtension specialist BobHutmacher, who is conducting sorghum irrigation trials. “We saw significant use of water down to 6 to 8 feet. As you get to the more severe deficit irrigation treatments, you get more significant use of water in the soil.” In the most recent studies at Kearney, sorghumwas irrigated with as much as 14.5 inches to as little as a scant 2.5 inches, and Hutmacher said the crop still performed well with significant water reduction. “We had relatively mild loss of yields when we eliminated 5 or 6 inches with early or late deficit irrigation,” he said. Even the plots irrigatedwith just 2.5 inches still produced amodest crop, but he said themost severedeficit irrigation treatments produced less forage cropper dropof water. There are numerous different types of sorghum, and the UC researchers said each brings its own rewards and challenges. “Typically, grain sorghum is at combine height,” Dahlberg said. “You can see the
In the decades before water projects brought an irrigation renaissance to the Central Valley, California farmers grew nearly 400,000 acres of the drought-tolerant small grain sorghum. This ancient grain that is a staple for half a billion people living in arid regions of the world could be poised for a comeback, as farmers look for alternative feed crops that can produce large quantities of dairy forage using little water. “In a state likeCalifornia that’s having real struggleswithwater, forage sorghumcould be a really nice alternative for dairy feed production,” said Jeff Dahlberg, director of the University of California Kearney Agricultural Research and ExtensionCenter inParlier. “Most people inCalifornia dairies use a lot of cornand alfalfa, and they use a lot of water. One of the nice things about sorghum is it is one of themost drought-tolerant crops in the world. Forage sorghumuses about one-half to one-third the water that corn does.” As more dairy farmers try their hand at this alternative forage, their results vary widely, farm advisors said, suggesting the state remains early on a learning curve on managing the vastly different types of sorghum. Dahlberg and other UC researchers discussed their latest information on sorghum during a UC Cooperative Extension Alfalfa and Forage Virtual Field Day. Recent UC studies show that sorghum’s drought tolerance—which is the crop’smain
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January 27, 2021 Ag Alert 19
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