Area sorghum popping up on time

By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Fields of grain sorghum are growing nicely at Texas A&M University's Research Farm/Impact Center in Burleson County. Photo by Mindy Poehl

July 15, 2004 - Central Texas producers had the opportunity to see field crop experiments in grain sorghum and soybean production at Texas A&M University Research Farm. The annual Tri-County Crops Tour was originally canceled because of bad weather, but was re-scheduled for July 6 in Burleson County.

The annual field tour featured the Intensive Management Precision Agriculture Conservation Tillage Center (IMPACT) at TAMU, that features 172 acres of irrigated crops. The crops are irrigated by a center-pivot irrigation system that moves in a back and forth pattern. The crop land is also used for collecting data related to precision agricultural production.

"Since this year's crop hasn't been harvested yet, the tour is a visual appraisal of the crops," said Eric Zimmerman, Brazos County Extension agent with agriculture and natural resources.

Dr. Juerg Blumenthal, Extension agronomist, spoke about grain sorghum production and the various variety trials. The range of planting dates for grain sorghum ranges from late April to early July. In April, sorghum contract prices were the highest in many years and some producers were able to sign pound contracts above $5.50/cwt. Recent cash prices were at $4.40- 4.70/cwt.

Sorghum hybrids that are tilled have the ability to disperse upward if production conditions are favorable relative to the established plant population, explained Blumenthal. But, tilled hybrids also erode the ability to manage targeted plant populations.

As moisture has become more available with the recent rains, June is the preferred time to plant sorghum because grain filling will occur in September after the summer heat has passed and the September rains assist the crops, Blumenthal said. Typically, it takes six to eight inches of moisture for sorghum crops to produce grains, and each additional inch of water should produce 350-425 pounds of grain.

"The types of sorghum a producers plants is all relative to what he wants to get in return," Zimmerman said.

Dr. Travis Miller, Extension program leader for Soil and Crop Sciences, spoke about soybean production. Soybeans can be planted on irrigated land where cotton crops have failed to grow and can be planted as late as mid-July. The production of soybeans in Texas has increased this year.

Miller suggested planting medium-maturity group IV soybeans, when planting as late as June and July, because heat and minimal rainfall can affect the growth, causing the plants to be short. Group V soybeans have also performed well at later planting dates. For each day after June, the soybean yield is said to decline by one bushel per day.