chicken notes: sorghum
February 2007, as an experiment, i ordered a pound of 'Apache Red Sorghum'
from Seeds of Change, and planted it mid-May on a couple garden beds, as
part of a cover crop mix. It grew impressively fast and easily, with no
pests or other problem. Less than 5 months later, it is tall and healthy
with big heads of grain on it.
- Wikipedia pages on Sorghum
Sorghum are a great starting place. It is a subtropical plant,
native to Africa, it likes hot weather, can tolerate drought better than
corn. It can produce the same amount of food per acre as corn.
It can tolerate a wide range of soil pH and textures.
- Could this be a good crop to try on a larger scale? Or is it likely
to develop mildew problems, like other grains in this climate?
- The good news is that many online references say that many sorghum
varieties are very resistant to mildew etc.
- The bad news, UH researchers say: "we always ended up with fungal
problems with grain crops including sorghum in our Hilo-Hamakua
environment." Need to find the exact research results!
Apparently the last research was done in the 1960s?
- Harvesting: (from
- In developing countries, almost all sorghum is harvested
by hand. The panicle is cut from the standing stalk at about 16-20 percentage
moisture content, and the stalks left for animals to graze the best
of the residual leaf material. In other communities, the stalks are
cut and stored for use as dry season animal fodder, or for house thatching
and fencing. Late harvesting can lead to spontaneous shedding of the
grain from the panicles. In the USA, Australia and Argentina where
dwarf hybrids are popular, the sorghum grain is threshed from the standing
stalks by combine harvester.
In rural Africa, threshing involves beating the dried sorghum
panicles with sticks on the ground or in sacks, or using a mortar
and pestle. In some places in India, a common practice for threshing
the grain is to place it on the road for vehicles to run over. (!)
- It sounds like you don't have to do any further work to use it as
chicken feed: just make sure the grains are dry if stored, then feed
directly to the birds.
- In October i did the experiment of presenting a panicle of sorghum
grains to my chickens. They just looked at it quizzically, not
recognizing it as food. When i stripped off the grains with my
fingers and threw them on the ground, then the chickens ate them.
So, that is a small amount of work needed, but it is confirmation that
chickens will eat Hawaiian-grown, whole un-milled sorghum.
Grain Sorghum (Milo) and
spp. from the Alternative Field Crops Manual.
- Interestingly, one of the old common names gives for sorghum is
"Mississippi chicken corn."
SORGHUM (MILO) PRODUCTION GUIDELINES from North Dakota says "Grain
sorghum is a major commodity crop in the U.S. and production is supported by
the Farm Service Agency (loan and LDP payments available)"
- There are so many other varieties around the world, the FAO site says
about 17 thousand sorghums cultivars in China(!) There is no list of
sorghum varieties available, so i have compiled the following descriptions
from any sources i could find.
- There are sorghum varieties used for forage, grain, syrup, and wild game
- The chief varieties of sorghum in the United States are termed
sorgo, kafir, durra, milo, feterita, shallu, kaoliang, and broomcorn.
Sudangrass, or Sudan grass, is also a variety of the same species.
- The name 'milo' is used for a kind of sorghum that is explicitly for
- As a commodity in the mainland USA, the variety is just "Sorghum, No. 2
Red Apache from
Seeds of Change, variety i bought
in 2007 ($5.70/lb)
- "It is extremely productive, grows to 8 or 9 feet and yields
5000-10,000 lb/acre dry matter within three months of planting. It is
the perfect crop to grow when large amounts of carbon-rich material are
needed for your compost pile. Plant at 25-50 lb/acre or .6-1.2 lb/1000
- probably not bred for grain output, it seems to be meant for 'green
Black Amber Cane from
Southern Exposure ($8.75 per 1/4 pound)
- "99 days. [Heirloom sent to us from R.C. Mauldin of the Southwestern
Seed Service Lab in Waco, Texas. Reintroduced by SESE in 1997.] 'Black
Amber Cane' was one of the earliest sweet canes introduced to American
agriculture. It was supplanted by 'Redtop' which has a higher yield.
Used primarily as a syrup sorghum. As a silage crop it has the hay and
wild game quality of 'Merit'. Makes a good intercrop with beans and
peas. Stalks range from 6 to 8' bearing large shiny black seeds."
- Green Gold Sorghum (Milo)
(Wetsels Variety) from HFF
- "Produces grain and has comparable feed values as corn. Is an early
maturing variety that thrashes easily but doesn't shatter out of the
head. Is resistance to smut and can tolerate high levels of moisture
and is drought tolerant. Will produce on high soils, heavy clays or
deep blacklands, making it extremely adaptable. The extra large root
system on the mature plant accounts for its great standability. Grows
4-5 ft. tall."
- Jowar is a white grain sorghum berry used for cereal and breads by many
African and South Asian cultures.
- Reiner's Farms
Grain Sorghum, from MannaHarvest,
Organic, 5lbs. $8.42 (!)
- "grown organically in Nebraska and is GMO free. The crop has been
adapted to the dry hot climate of the midwest and southwest United
at Purcell Mountain Farms, 5 lbs. - $ 11.95 and
5 lbs. $8.28
- I wrote them to ask whether this sorghum will sprout. They
From: Purcell Mountain Farms [mailto:firstname.lastname@example.org]
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2007 7:25 PM
the grain sorghum is a whole grain and will sprout.
I hope this little bit of information will help you.
Purcell Mountain Farms,