# Sudan Grass



## slvr98svt (Jan 18, 2011)

I was just given an 18 acre field of sudan grass. Currently most of it is between 24-30" height range and I am planning on wrapping all of it. It is more than I will need this year as I already have a bunch of grass wrapped, however I don't want to miss out on future opportunities. What is the best time/height to cut this stuff?


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Before you know it it'll be 5 ft tall. I usually don't like it any taller than that. As it is I have to stand up to see the other end of the haybine in that stuff


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

slvr98svt said:


> I was just given an 18 acre field of sudan grass. Currently most of it is between 24-30" height range and I am planning on wrapping all of it. It is more than I will need this year as I already have a bunch of grass wrapped, however I don't want to miss out on future opportunities. What is the best time/height to cut this stuff?


Have you ever been around that stuff before ? 4" is all the taller I would want it .. if I wanted it.. and that is more than tall enough to challenge any baler FIY good thing your wrapping it because up where your at you will never get it dry. watch the stuff close as it grows very fast, it doesn't make very good feed.. JMO but your just wasting good plastic


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## slvr98svt (Jan 18, 2011)

No I have never been around any of it. I planned on cutting Saturday so another couple days growth is all its going to get.

Snowball why doesn't it make good feed? Some reading in the net says it's pretty goo protein and makes good baleage/silage. Am I missing something?


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Many acres of sudan is grown in Texas. It's no as good as Alfalfa but if harvested before seed heads emerge can produce decent protein & RFV.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

Tx Jim said:


> Many acres of sudan is grown in Texas. It's no as good as Alfalfa but if harvested before seed heads emerge can produce decent protein & RFV.


Tx Jim you guys down there can get it dry can't you ? up here is almost impossible to get dry so the protein and RFV is not there for us .it just a used as a cover crop mostly , maybe to graze but the cows don't get much out of it when grazing


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Never seen sudan baled here. Just chopped. On good soil it can get 8 feet + tall.


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## slvr98svt (Jan 18, 2011)

So making baleage out of it before it goes to seed is not as good as chopping it as silage? I guess I missed something. I am definitely new to this but thought it would have mo better protein and feed value as baleage compared to trying to get it dry!!


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

slvr98svt said:


> So making baleage out of it before it goes to seed is not as good as chopping it as silage? I guess I missed something. I am definitely new to this but thought it would have mo better protein and feed value as baleage compared to trying to get it dry!!


You didn't miss anything.


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## PackMan2170 (Oct 6, 2014)

snowball said:


> Tx Jim you guys down there can get it dry can't you ? up here is almost impossible to get dry so the protein and RFV is not there for us .it just a used as a cover crop mostly , maybe to graze but the cows don't get much out of it when grazing


We can get it to dry here, Snow. Takes a while, but it will. It's kinda a double-edged sword of not enough yield vs too long of drying time. Just cut it before it heads out, and it makes ok feed.


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## slvr98svt (Jan 18, 2011)

So, what I'm gathering is its not as good of feed as I though? I'm feeding beef cows so I'm not a high production milk facility or anything but I don want to be feeding 4% protein either


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

It makes fine feed. Cattle will eat it over mixed grass hay because it has more sugars.

They do tend to waste more due to the long plant size. If you have someone that has a cutter on the baler that will help.

The stuff holds a lot of water in the stem so it is wetter than you think when you bale it...

Its no alfalfa, but it will work just fine for you....


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

snowball said:


> Tx Jim you guys down there can get it dry can't you ? up here is almost impossible to get dry so the protein and RFV is not there for us .it just a used as a cover crop mostly , maybe to graze but the cows don't get much out of it when grazing


Sudan can need 5 or 6 days to dry and that's if it is properly crimped when cut. If cut in the boot stage before heading it can make some excellent cattle hay.


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## slvr98svt (Jan 18, 2011)

Ok these pictures were taken an hour ago. It's a little taller than I originally thought, most of it is probably up around the 3' mark. The weather for this weekend is showing low 80's with a 7-9mph wind.

This is my first year making baleage, and with the grass hay that I have done so far I have just mowed into a windrow through the flails and came behind it with the baler when I was done mowing. However it seems to be a little drier than I wanted it to be and I am thinking around 30% moisture.

However with all the talk about the stems holding moisture, should I lay a wider swatch and come back and rake it into a windrow before baling? What is the lay time to get to say 50% moisture? I understand it's all relative and depending on all the factors, but I am just trying to get an idea if I should be expecting to let it lay 2 hours, or let it lat a full day before baling and wrapping?


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## treymo (Dec 29, 2013)

Can take a while to dry. I usually figure 7-10 days. Raking some right now.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Even for Sudan baleage I think you'll need to lay windrow wide and wait a least 2 maybe 3 days before baling. I asked my neighbor dairyman what the best testing Sudan hay he had fed and he stated it tested 15% protein/95 RFV. IMHO that's fairly decent hay.


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## tarrquinn (Jul 5, 2014)

I like to feed mine at no taller than 3 feet ... Good feed protein and energy at highest ... Sacrifice quantity for quality ... My dairy cows will make milk off it at that height let it go to 5 feet and it only a dry cow feed


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Lay it wide for a day or two. Then ted it. If you dont have a tedder than roll the bottom over. You must get the bottom turned over so it dries.

Are you round baling it? The stuff is hard to bale and takes some horsepower esp if its too wet....


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Yep... had a neighbor tell me the secret to making good sorghum/sudan hay....

"Plant it thicker than hair on a dog's back, and cut it when it's three feet tall... maximum leaf to stalk ratio at that height, thicker you plant it, the smaller the stalks are, and smaller they are, the softer and more palatable, and the more leaves you have. Max sugar and nutritional value at that stage."

Let it grow 6,8, 10 feet tall, and all you're baling is cane poles..."

later! OL JR


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

PackMan2170 said:


> We can get it to dry here, Snow. Takes a while, but it will. It's kinda a double-edged sword of not enough yield vs too long of drying time. Just cut it before it heads out, and it makes ok feed.


So PackMan what is the different between Sudan grass & what my inlaws call Haygrazer ? it looks about the same my BL likes the Haygrazer alot


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

slvr98svt said:


> So, what I'm gathering is its not as good of feed as I though? I'm feeding beef cows so I'm not a high production milk facility or anything but I don want to be feeding 4% protein either


the problem with it is I don't think it's very palatable when baled wet is great if you chop it and if you want to bale it and have a cutter on your baler.. well good luck is All I can say here where I'am at it will take 7-10 days and 5 or 6 rake jobs to get it down to 30% your ground can be bone dry and when it starts bleeding the water out after you cut it the ground gets wet then you have to turn it over and over and over.... If I was chopping it yea it's ok feed but to try to bale it's not for me or my beef cows.. it might be high in protein and the RFV might be high. but more than once I've seen cows go backward on it


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## PackMan2170 (Oct 6, 2014)

Sudan and haygrazer are synonymous in my neck of the woods. Technically, haygrazer is sudan hybrid (usually sorghum/sudan). It has thicker stems and broader leaves than straight sudan, but typically makes much better yield.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

snowball said:


> So PackMan what is the different between Sudan grass & what my inlaws call Haygrazer ? it looks about the same my BL likes the Haygrazer alot


None that I know of... everybody uses the terms interchangeably here...

Later! OL JR


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

snowball said:


> So PackMan what is the different between Sudan grass & what my inlaws call Haygrazer ? it looks about the same my BL likes the Haygrazer alot


Sudan/Sudex/Sorghum/Haygrazer are all names for same crop down here in Texas


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## azmike (Jan 4, 2015)

We planted a variety of sorghum/sudan called Super Sugar. 50 pounds an acre- we cut once while stalks were about pencil size (3'-4') and very dense. It made easy baleage with the stalks laying down while plastic wrapping. Recovery looks to be very quick, we will cut again then graze after freeze in late November. We have big baled, little squares and now baleage this variety for cow feed. It makes a lot of hay!


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## slvr98svt (Jan 18, 2011)

Well I guess I will plan on cutting Friday afternoon and see what happens. Hopefully it's low enough moisture to bale and wrap Sunday.


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## slvr98svt (Jan 18, 2011)

Well, a quick update with some I should have listened to the internet! I started cutting Friday afternoon, finished almost half the field until I didn't see a random post marking a large rock and took out a turtle. That stopped me until Sat morning where I got 1/2 way through the rest of the field and had a tire go out on the mower. Finally got that fixed up, grabbed a couple different wide swaths from what I cut on friday and the meter was reading between 55-65 so I raked a bunch up and tried to bale it...tried being the key word. I was able to make 12 bales in 4 hours time, before I finally gave up and had to clean out a 2 hour jam in the baler.

It was obviously to wet and my meter is off or I was just ahead of myself. Let it sit Sunday, and reraked and started baling around 1:30, finished up about 3:30 in time for me to wrap what I rolled and get to work on time. So I headed back to the house with a roll in the baler and one on the front of the tractor. Made it to the house, unloaded that stuff grabbed the wagon to head back to the field only to realize I shredded a serpentine belt and my day was over.

So now I have a dozen bales sitting in the field for whats going to be about 14 hours before I can wrap them with the help of a neighbors tractor. They measured anywhere between 30-50% depending on where I was checking in the bale. Hopefully they stay ok for a few hours.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Now you know a bit more. Both about that field and the crop. Make the same mistakes again shame on you. Learn from them, come out better for them, and you can chalk it up to a cheap education.

Good luck.


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## tarrquinn (Jul 5, 2014)

Looks good crop your cattle will love it ... Bloke down the road was waiting for contractor in December to bale his didn't get there tell mid January ( our summer)... Half of it had lodged by then so only cut 17/30 acres got 300 4x4 bales, mulched the rest into the ground ...started feeding it 6 weeks ago , cattle won't eat it as it was too tall and old ... He's tried everything he can think of 2 help ... Molasess etc but still took 2 weeks for 30 heifers to eat 1 bale 
9k he wishes he never paid contractor now doh


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