Sweet As in Coraki, NSW
July 5, 2025 All Regions
Image: Craig Bell’s AlfaGen Seeds Sweet As Sweet Forage Sorghum being cut into windrows.
Sweet Sorghum Steps In as a Late Silage Option
With it effectively too late to plant corn for silage, Haman Coulter of McGregor Gourley, South Lismore, was open to a suggestion from AlfaGen Seeds’ local Territory Manager: trial sweet sorghum as a late-season option. Craig Bell of Coraki agreed to plant a block using Sweet As—AlfaGen Seeds’ sweet sorghum variety—alongside two experimental sweet sorghum lines.
After the winter forage was removed in spring, Sweet As and the other trial lines were direct-drilled into the paddock on 21 January, ahead of forecasted rainfall.
Between 12.5 and 16kg/ha was sown, with the seed split across different strip sizes within the paddock.
The block was sown without base fertiliser, but was top-dressed with a pasture booster following the promising rainfall outlook. Wet conditions encouraged strong crop growth, but also delayed the harvest.
With clear weather finally forecast, the crop was cut into windrows using a mower conditioner on 27 April. The windrows were then picked up with a forage harvester, chopped, and transported to the silage pit.
Craig was pleased with the crop’s biomass and surprised to find approximately 105 tonnes were harvested from 4.39 hectares. Feed quality samples of each variety were taken en route to the pit for testing.
Haman appreciated the flexibility of using sweet sorghum:
“It allowed us to plant the winter fodder on time and not have to wait for the corn silage to be taken off.”
There are plans for Haman and Craig to continue combining corn silage and AlfaGen Seeds sweet sorghum in future rotations.
Learn more about another AlfaGen forage sorghum – Fine As – a superb choice for hay and grazing.