Posts Tagged: sorghum

Kearney research featured in World Ag Expo magazine

The official magazine of the World Ag Expo 2013 contains a three-page spread about sorghum research being conducted at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center by Jeff Dahlberg, director of the center.

Copies of the magazine will be available to visitors at the world's largest agricultural exposition Feb. 12-14 in Tulare. A pdf of the sorghum article is attached below.

In the article, Dahlberg says that, in the past, sorghum forages were not as good as corn for silage feed. But times have changed.

"We've come a long way from what your father or grandfather grew as sorghums years ago," Dahlberg said. "It's to the point now that we can compete with corn silage on both quality and tonnage."

In addition, Dahlberg said, sorghum uses from a third to half the water of corn silage, needs less nitrogen to produce the same yield, and has greater salt tolerance.

Carol Frate, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Tulare County, told reporter Chris Bennett she is unsure of the precise role of sorghum for farmers.

"I'm looking at input costs and comparing them to yield potential and quality for milking cows," Frate said. "I would be a bit leery of the forage sorghums that grow so tall because of lodging issues. We've had some growers experimenting with them and then having 20 or 40 acres of sorghum that is pretty flat."

Sorghum is widely used in the western Panhandle of Texas, where dairies are turning to sorghum because of water issues.

"They're not losing very much by switching over and they have been pretty happy with forage sorghums," Dahlberg said.

Ag radio welcomes new Kearney director

Ag radio personality Sean Michael Lisle of KMJ 580 am based in Fresno welcomed the new director of the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center, Jeff Dahlberg, back to California on this morning's ag radio show.

The program is broadcast from 5 to 6 a.m.; for later risers it can also be downloaded or heard on Californiaagnet.com.

Lisle caught up with Dahlberg at the San Joaquin Valley Grape Symposium in Easton on Wednesday.

Dahlberg told the reporter he is originally from the California Bay Area and spent a lot of time in the Sacramento Valley on his uncles' farms. Most recently, he served as director of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program in Lubbock, Tex.

"I haven't seen fog like this in a long time," he said.

Dahlberg said one idea he brings to Kearney is establishment of centers of excellence.

"I would like to start a center for on-farm green technologies," he said. "How can we bring greener technologies to farmers' fields? How can we use solar (energy) to impact electric costs?"

Dahlberg, a sorghum expert, said he is also interested in studying the crop's potential as a renewable energy crop in California.

"Sorghum is one of the few crops that span all the different renewable fuel options," he said. "You can use the grain to convert into ethanol. We have sweet sorghum, a specialty sorghum which is very similar to sugar cane. You can press the juice out and convert it into ethanol. And, we can produce a lot of biomass."

Sorghum could also be a potential water-saving forage crop, he said.

"Last time I checked, there are still a lot of dairies in this part of the world," Dahlberg said.

Dahlberg told Lisle he sees Kearney as first and foremost a resource to help keep farmers profitable.

"That's a real struggle right now," he said. "We're getting less and less farmers in the country. We need to make sure we keep those numbers up, encourage kids to get into farming. It's a good life and you can make some money doing it."

Read more