Chad Broster and his wife, Ashlie, winners of this year’s Illinois Farm Bureau Young Leader Achievement Award, grew less than 100 acres of milo this season.

Grain sorghum yields down but respectable

Grain sorghum yields, like most crops this year, were reduced by the drought.

Dan Grant

Published: Oct 12, 2012

But the crop still fared well enough that some farmers in Southern Illinois may consider planting more next year, particularly on lighter soils that remain stressed from the drought.

“It’s a water-sipping crop, so we plant it on the most stressed soils we’ve got,” said Chad Broster, a farmer from Mount Carmel (Wabash County).

Grain sorghum, also known as milo, usually yields between 100 and 120 bushels per acre on the Broster family farm.

This year he expects about half of that, which still will be much better than corn on Broster’s farm. His corn crop this year averaged between 25 and 30 bushels per acre, except one field that made 140 bushels.

“Some of it didn’t start heading until it started raining,” Broster said. “It went 63 days without rain.”

Broster and his wife, Ashlie, winners of this year’s Illinois Farm Bureau Young Leader Achievement Award, grew less than 100 acres of milo this season.

But that could increase next year.

“We’ll probably plant a couple hundred acres next year,” Broster said. “Places where the drought could linger next year we’ll plant beans or milo.”

Broster recently was contacted by three different elevator managers who are interested in buying his grain sorghum crop. The price as of last week was around $7.30 per bushel.

The Broster’s milo crop probably won’t be ready for harvest until about Nov. 1.

Statewide, 38 percent of the sorghum crop was harvested as of last week, which is the same as last year and the five-year average.

Last week, 94 percent of the sorghum crop in Illinois was mature compared to the average of 80 percent.

Grain sorghum involves much lower input costs to grow than corn, but weed control is a challenge because there are no biotech varieties of sorghum. Broster harvests milo with his bean head set at a height very similar to when he cuts wheat.

Illinois farmers this year planted 25,000 acres of grain sorghum, up 5,000 acres from 2011.

Check out this week's harvest conditions with Cropwatchers .

Permalink: Click here

Comments

Read comments from others and share your own thoughts.

Please provide the answer to the following question:

=

Search this site:

Read More Stories

Crop insurance key IFB focus in Senate debate

With Senate farm bill debate anticipated this week, Farm Bureau is girding up to protect crop insurance and other key programs in what could shape up as a heated floor fight.

Read this story


Finally! Some significant planting progress

Most farmers in Illinois this week finally were able to work fields for multiple days.

Read this story


Cattle on feed numbers down 3%

On-feed numbers and placements were higher than trade estimates. We have commentary on today's report from Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University ag economist.

Read this story

Finally! Some significant planting progress

Rainy week ahead for Illinois farmers

Crop insurance key IFB focus in Senate debate

USDA Planted Acres Report

Chicago Fed: Farmland values rise in first quarter of 2013

Cattle on feed numbers down 3%

Nitrogen monitoring, post-planting applications key trends

Informa revises crop forecasts

USDA wheat production and supply-demand updates

FarmWeek for May 13

Top 50 Tags