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Sorghum Is Good Rescue Option In Cotton And Other Summer Crops
BRENT BEAN
LUBBOCK, TEXAS
There is still a grain crop choice for farmers who have seen drought and/or hail losses to this year’s cotton or other summer crops. Rather than letting ground go fallow and losing cropping benefits for next year, farmers should consider planting grain sorghum as a rescue crop. To do so, farmers must act soon.
Agronomically speaking, the last recommended sorghum planting dates vary, but generally are July 4 in Kansas, July 7 in the Texas Panhandle, July 10 in the Central South Plains of Texas and July 15 in the Lower South Plains.
There is low risk in planting drought-tolerant grain sorghum now. Seed and input costs are relatively minimal, there are insurance options still available and marketing options exist in both feed and ethanol markets. Key selections farmers must make are the right hybrid and the inputs needed. Research has shown sorghum can still yield a crop with good test weight even when planted at this point in the season.
Farmers should work with an agronomist at either their regional extension office or their seed company to select a hybrid best suited to their soils, growing conditions and end goal for the crop. When planted now, the number of days for any given hybrid to reach maturity is generally less as a result of warmer temperatures and days beginning to grow shorter. Also, it’s highly recommended to use a seed treatment insecticide for sugarcane aphids to protect against early season infestation, in addition to a hybrid with sugarcane aphid tolerance.
If an early maturing hybrid is selected for planting, consider increasing seeding rate by 25 percent to compensate for reduced tillering by the crop due to the warmer temperatures. Also consider what remaining nitrogen may still be available in the field that wasn’t used by the failed crop. A starter fertilizer may be a good investment to compensate for a lack of N that may be in top few inches of soil due to leaching.
As is always the case with sorghum, a good preemergent herbicide application is a must. Also, growers should consider any long-lasting residual herbicides remaining from the failed crop that may affect sorghum establishment.
Insurance options
Replanting sorghum following a failed cotton crop provides insurance coverage options. One option is taking 100 percent on the failed cotton insurance, and planting “wildcat” grain sorghum with no insurance coverage on the sorghum. Insurance coverage for the first crop typically offers a better payment than the payment from insurance on a second crop. That’s especially true considering actual production history with cotton and current price for cotton versus grain sorghum.
Another option is replanting to sorghum and taking only 35 percent of the cotton insurance payment and insuring the grain sorghum at 100 percent. The cotton insurance premium would be reduced to 35 percent, and if the grain sorghum crop doesn’t suffer a loss, or only has a small loss, the farmer has the option of taking the remaining 65 percent of the cotton insurance indemnity and paying the other 65 percent of the premium. If the grain sorghum crop fails, the producer can determine which option offers the best net return. If the sorghum is insured, the premium will be due on the sorghum acres regardless if the producer has a loss or not.
If a producer wants to insure the sorghum as a second crop, be cognizant of the planting dates. For example, the final planting date for West Texas sorghum areas is June 30 with the guarantee decreasing 1 percent each day up until July 25, which is the end of the late plant period for sorghum.
For farmers, this insurance decision depends on current prices of the two commodities, production history on record and cost of the insurance.
In summary, planting sorghum is a low-cost, low-risk investment that farmers can make on land that would otherwise be fallow. Growing a crop in the 2017 season will provide benefits such as moisture retention and weed and erosion control for 2018. For the best outcome, farmers must make informed decisions quickly about seed selection, inputs, timing and insurance. ∆
BRENT BEAN: Sorghum Checkoff Agronomist
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