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AdamOH 08-22-2012 09:19:26 140.228.158.6 Report to Moderator	Hello, This year we are short on hay as many others are, so we planted some sorghum and sudan grass in the winter wheat feilds. I was wondering if any one had ever bailed them in small squares? Several local farmers plant the sorghum sudan but always round bale and wrap them in plactic as haylage. Will the sorghum and sudan grass dry down enough to bale without having a spoilage problem? We will be cutting the sorghum and sudan with a Hesston haybine. Additionally has anyone ever had problems with purssic acid or nitrate poisioning when feeding to cattle? [Reply]   [No Email]
Notjustair 08-27-2012 18:17:03 174.250.176.12 Report to Moderator	Re: Baling Sorghum x Sudan Grass in Small Squares in reply to AdamOH, 08-22-2012 09:19:26   That and Sudan silage was all we fed growing up. Herefords did well on it. [Reply]  [No Email]
LAA 08-23-2012 19:02:30 65.0.16.88 Report to Moderator	Re: Baling Sorghum x Sudan Grass in Small Squares in reply to AdamOH, 08-22-2012 09:19:26   Not too many years ago I averaged 12,000 small squares per year of sudan grass, cut with sickle mowers. If you have had rain and it is over 18 inches tall when you cut it you are not likely to have nitrate problems, if you plant BMR varities nitrate worries are virtually eliminated. [Reply]  [No Email]
AdamOH 08-24-2012 08:57:41 140.228.158.6 Report to Moderator	Re: Baling Sorghum x Sudan Grass in Small Squares in reply to LAA, 08-23-2012 19:02:30   Thank you all very much, We planted the BMR varity from Best Forage its PCS 2010 BMR Sorghum x Sudangrass. This is the first time i've heard about the BMR reducing the risk of nitrate poising. If you had any more information on that LAA i'd be glad to hear. Thanks [Reply]  [No Email]
Tx Jim 08-23-2012 04:06:10 67.142.163.22 Report to Moderator	Re: Baling Sorghum x Sudan Grass in Small Squares in reply to Animal, 08-22-2012 09:19:26   Prussic acid if present dissipates out of cured hay in 3-4 weeks,Nitrate poisoning on the other hand never goes away. You can test hay for nitrates and the higher you cut the plant from the ground the better the chance for less nitrates. On the drying of Sudan be sure and have the conditioner rolls set as close as possible to achieve the best crimping effect. [Reply]  [No Email]
Farmer Steve 08-22-2012 10:10:51 209.62.224.1 Report to Moderator	Re: Baling Sorghum x Sudan Grass in Small Squares in reply to AdamOH, 08-22-2012 09:19:26   I"ve done some SS grass into squares around the edge because of weeds and buck brush. Nitrate problems have more to do with how dry the conditions were when you cut and did you fertalize between your winter wheat and your SS grass. Also soil type can influence problems. I cut mine with a sickle mower and raked with a wheel rake. Everyone on this forum said it wouldn"t work but it actually worked just fine. The SS grass did have to sit for 3 or 4 days to dry down and I did flip it once while it was setting out there. Remember Square bales can tolerate higher moisture levels then round bales without spoiling. So I wouldn"t worry, if its dry enough for round baling it"s perfect for squares. [Reply]  [No Email]
randallinMo 08-22-2012 11:13:21 216.74.205.155 Report to Moderator	Re: Baling Sorghum x Sudan Grass in Small Squares in reply to Farmer Steve, 08-22-2012 10:10:51   I second what farmersteve said. It just takes a while for it to dry down. I"ve baled hundreds of bales of it through the years. [Reply]  [No Email]