Corn and Sorghum - Crop Management

Corn and Sorghum Crop Management

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Nutrient Budget Calculator

The Nutrient Budget Tool is a resource for growers who are interested in adequately providing the correct amount of nutrients for their crops for the optimal yields. This tool allows growers to choose crop type and yield goals into a spreadsheet that will then output the needed fertilizer levels of N, P, K needed to meet projected yield goals. Soil test, irrigation water test, and manure nutrient test analysis results can also be input to calculate the overall results of a crop’s nutrient/fertilizer needs. This tool is designed to help promote soil testing and analysis and to help growers be more cost and nutrient efficient. We plan to expand the Nutrient Budget Tool in the future to incorporate soil salinity levels (EC) and pH to better service the nutrient budget users and provide greater information.

Download:

Nutrient Budget Tool

1. Choose the crop from the list of tabs at the bottom of the screen.

2. Fill in the “Plan Area” field in acres and “Yield Area” field in lbs/acre or tons/acre. Doing this will provide the needed N, P, and K requirements of the specified plan area.

3. Additional numbers from irrigation water analysis, soil analysis and fertilizer analysis from a plan area can be input to factor in to the overall needed requirements for N, P, and K in lbs/plan area.

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Harvesting

When to harvest sorghum can be a difficult decision, due to uneven maturity. Also, depending on the hybrid, the stalks and leaves may still be green when the grain is ready for harvest. Sorghum can be harvested when grain moisture content is 18-23%, and harvest losses increase outside of this moisture range. However, the grain can not be stored safely over a long period of time above a moisture content of 12- 14%, so artificial drying is be necessary if harvesting high moisture grain. Unfortunately, artificial drying facilities are not available in Arizona, so grain should be harvested when its moisture content is below 14%. Sorghum grain readily absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, and grain moisture content can change a few percentage points during the day. Thus, check grain moisture before harvesting and stop harvest before evening if moisture content increases above suggested storage levels. Sorghum grain is brittle and more easily cracked than the grain of wheat or barley, so care must be taken in adjusting the combine

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Planting Date

Suggested planting dates for grain sorghum are presented in Table 1. Sorghum seed will germinate when the soil temperature at seeding depth is 50°F, but germination and growth will be slow and the seedlings will be susceptible to disease. Faster germination and superior establishment is obtained when the soil temperature is 60°F at 8 am for more than 5 consecutive days. Sorghum may be planted in the summer but grain yields are usually less than a spring planting. The optimum date to plant in the summer is late enough to avoid the heat during bloom but early enough to avoid frost and poor drying conditions in the fall.

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Corn and Sorghum Crop Management Publications

Sep 2013

Forage Sorghum Harvest

Publication (PDF, 155KB)

Authors: Ayman Mostafa and Mike Ottman

Forage sorghums are warm-season, annual grasses that have the potential to produce large amounts of nutritious forage during summer months, especially in lower-elevation deserts, like central Arizona. If managed properly , sorghum can be used as supplemental feed during times of inadequate forage production or can be used as an emergency , late-planted crop to replace a primary crop that has been damaged by wind, hail or drought early in the growing season.
Jun 2009

Growing Grain Sorghum in Arizona

Publication (PDF, 398KB)

Grain sorghum (milo) is a warm season, annual grain crop. It is more resistant to salt, drought, and heat stress than most other crops. Nevertheless, highest yields are obtained when stresses are minimized. This Article give some suggestion on planting, fertilizing, irrigation and other aspects of growing.

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Corn and Sorghum Crop Management Presentations

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ARIZONA PEST MANAGEMENT CENTER