Mimeo No. 29
Dept. of Animal Husbandry	September 19, 1947
SUDAN GRASS AS A LATE SUMMER HOG PASTURE C. M. Vestal
There is a need in most hog pasture programs for a spring or early-summer sown crop which will furnish good pasture during the hot, dry months of late summer and early fall. This kind of a crop serves either as a supplementary or substitute pasture on farms where seeding failures, winter killing, dry weather and other causes of shortages in the regular rotation pastures occur. This kind of pasture is especially valuable on farms where the rotation pasture crops are not regularly available for hogs.
Sudan grass has growth qualities which make it suitable as a supplementary or substitute pasture for use in late summer and early fall, when pasture shortages so often occur.
During the summer of 1947, Sudan grass was used in a comparative pasture test.
The Sudan grass seed was sown in June, and in July an experiment was begun in which Sudan grass and alfalfa were compared as hog pasture.
Plan of Feeding
Three lots of pigs were started on feed July 17 and fed until September 11, a period of eight weeks. Each lot contained 18 pigs with an average starting weight of 75 lbs. All pigs had a free choice of shelled corn, protein supplement, mineral mixture and loose salt. The protein supplement was equal parts of soybean oil meal and meat and bone scraps. The mineral mixture contained limestone, steamed bone meal and salt. Lot 1 was fed on alfalfa pasture, and Lot 2, on Sudan grass pasture.
Lot 3 was fed in dry lot.
Purdue University
Agricultural Experiment Station Lafayette, Indiana