Sorghum Tips

Grain Sorghum, Surface Residue and Soil Organic Matter

Statewide

We all know that crop rotation has its place in cropping of any type, but factors like commodity prices, crop insurance, the equipment you have, and even your landlord will influence cropping and rotations.  Sorghum, like corn, no—more than corn—affords a residue producing crop on your land with a fibrous root system that is well distributed in at least the top 2 feet of your soil.  When sorghum is a part of your rotation, you generate residues, which depending in Texas you farm, these residues are a key component to reducing erosion from water and wind, catching and keeping more of the rainfall you receive, etc.  Texas AgriLife encourages producers to consider means to retain significant residues on the soil surface.  Give your precious soil resource a blanket!  This is a challenge for many producers, and I encourage you to learn about different types of coulters, trash whippers, and residue managers that fit on your planter so you can preserve the surface stubble as long as possible.  Ask neighbors who farm a lot of sorghum how they approach this and watch for fields that retain a lot of stubble and learn the pros and cons to see if doing so fits your farming.

Likewise, turning grain sorghum under with any form of tillage does not increase soil organic matter from the surface residues.  Instead you are more likely to disturb and destabilize existing soil organic matter.  Soil organic matter increases from grain sorghum will come from the root system, and the longer you can leave it alone, the less tillage you use, the more likely grain sorghum can increase soil organic matter.  It is not easy and sometimes not even practical to try to deliberately increase soil organic matter (a long, slow process), but leaving the roots in place is the most effective means of doing so.

So consider your 2012 grain sorghum—whether you have already harvested in South Texas or your crop is only 3 weeks old in the High Plains—and think about how to use this resource to enhance your soil quality and potential productivity for 2013 and beyond.

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