Research Progress Report 176
Project 1332 April, 1965
Forage Sorghum, Sudangrass, and Grain Sorghum Variety Testing On the Southern Indiana Forage Farm

Doyce Graham, J. S. Quick, K. J. Lessman and R. C. Pickett, Agronomy Department

Forage Sorghum and Sudangrass
	The results of the forage sorghum and sudangrass yield trials are shown in Tables 1 and 2. Two-year averages are shown in Tables 3 and 4 for those entries tested in 1963 and 1964.

	Forage sorghum hybrids outyielded standard inbred varieties, as has been the case in past years. The taller, higher yielding forage types tended to be coarse and may be lower in energy and digestibility than a more succulent type that yields less. The higher yield of the coarse type may enable them to retain a net advantage, but this has not been determined. A similar situation exists in the sudangrass yield trial.
Sorghum-sudangrass hybrids outyielded standard inbred varieties. However, the hybrids tended to be coarse because of the grain sorghum parent. Whether the higher yields of the sorghum-sudangrass hybrids enable them to retain a net advantage over inbred sudangrass varieties has not been determined under the two-cut system utilized in this trial. More frequent harvests probably increased the quality of sorghum-sudangrass hybrids.
	
	The yields of inbreds and hybrids in the forage sorghum and sudangrass yield trials were lower than average because of an early season windstorm which caused lodging of forage types and a late summer drouth which limited growth of forage and sudangrass types

Grain Sorghum
	Hybrid grain sorghum yield trials are shown in Tables 5, 6 and 7. Table 5 contains data from the Forage Farm while Tables 6 and 7 contain data from trials on the Oscar Knies farm 8 miles southwest of the Forage Farm.
Bird damage was successfully controlled at the Forage Farm grain sorghum yield trial by weekly spray applications of a mixture of DDT, toxaphene and Captan at the onset of blooming until the hard dough-stage of development. Early growing conditions were excellent followed by a drouth from milk-stage to maturity which lowered yields.

	The grain sorghum trials at the Knies farm were planted in a commercial sorghum field to minimize bird damage. Early growing conditions were excellent and were followed by a drouth and charcoal rot disease which caused severe lodging of most entries during milk-stage to maturity.

PURDUE UNIVERSITY • Agricultural Experiment Station • Lafayette, Indiana