The information below has been supplied by dairy marketers and other industry organizations. It has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hoard’s Dairyman.
For forage growers in the west and southwestern US, water shortages and regulations have driven exploration of alternative forages such as sorghum to complete their dairies’ rations. Across the rest of the country, this option has been earmarked merely as a supplemental forage for use in dry and droughty years. However, the recent development of a new berry processor has opened the door for widespread sorghum use within various dairy forage strategies.
“When we are harvesting sorghum, very often we see producers using the same setup that we use for corn. Because of the difference in grain size and conformation, we cannot break the berries,” explains Douglas Duhatschek, extension graduate assistant under Juan Piñeiro at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center.
The uncracked berries were a major hindrance to the forage’s starch digestibility - to the tune of 0-10%. Duhatschek explains that a protein matrix binds the starch in the sorghum berry, much like it does in corn. This matrix limits the digestibility of the berries or kernels, denying cows the digestible starch nougat within. Cracking the pericarp that protects the contents within the grain offers exponential opportunities for sorghum as dairy feed. Ensiling the cracked berries or kernels is the final piece to increasing starch digestibility.
Crushing berries = maximized starch potential
The metric used to assess the processing of berries, known as the Berry Processing Score (BPS) was previously under 20% for most sorghum grown in the US. To maximize the starch digestibility of sorghum, a greater than 50% BPS was needed. Thanks to a new berry processor that is entering the market in 2025, researchers have confirmed they can reach and exceed this goal.
Duhatschek and his team have run the numbers across various diets. Utilizing a processed sorghum at 65-70% starch digestibility, for example, can significantly reduce the use of added starch sources. “All the dry ground corn that we brought in to make up the starch on the diet, was reduced to barely 0.5 pounds.”[1]
Logistical ease
Current manufacturers of berry processing equipment have followed the lead of corn kernel processors - making change-out fairly simple. A replacement of the main block in the chopper offers improved berry processing thanks to new engineering and a narrower roll gap - at 0.5 mm, the current recommendation for reaching BPS goals. However, this does slow the speed of harvest and will likely incur extra costs with custom harvesters.
Logistical opportunities arise when considering the reduction of purchased and transported corn to offset ration ingredients, if processed sorghum is homegrown. “Normally this starch needs to be brought in and purchased. This may play a role in sustainability…by not bringing as much corn in, you could potentially reduce emissions and beyond,” shares Duhatschek.
Economics
With continual research on sorghum, dollars and cents have been applied to the nutritional data of this cereal crop. Duhatschek explains that in various cost assessments performed across sorghum research, the cost of production of sorghum silage compared to corn silage offers substantial savings.
“The more sorghum you can add to a diet without decreasing the production of solids and fluid milk, obviously you are going to be making more money because your diet will be cheaper,” explains Duhatschek. In the Texas panhandle, the cost of growing sorghum considering fertilizer, herbicides, and seeds only, was 62% cheaper than growing corn, based on data between 2015 and 2024 from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.[2]
Water savings
Water availability and use remain a sticking point among both farm and non-farm communities in the dryer of the 50 United States. As such, farmers in these lands are creative and opportunistic to maximize their animals' diets and forage and feed inventories.
“In areas like Florida, where it’s hot and humid, corn doesn’t do so well. When you come to Texas, corn doesn’t do so well here - most of the time,” says Duhatschek. “At the end of the day, sorghum is an option for mitigating risk where water is sparse.” As a drought-resistant plant, now with better starch contribution, this risk deflator can be an even more integral part of the crop strategy.
Research continues on the ideal settings for berry processing roll gaps and utilization of processed sorghum within animal rations. But forage producers should consider this new breakthrough as further incentive to try this alternative crop. Growers can review data sets to asses it’s potential, and find a hybrid that’s proven and works within their systems.
Sorghum may not be the answer for everyone, but as Duhatschek stresses, “with the quality of this KP [kernel processing], there is a huge opportunity for us to utilize this in areas that we normally would not use.”
Learn more about sorghum and beyond from Texas Agri-Life Extension and Research through Texas Dairy Matters. Users can find published research findings, resources, and contacts at https://texasdairymatters.tamu.edu/publications/nutrition/.
Founded in 1976, Rock River Laboratory is a family-owned laboratory network that provides production assistance to the agricultural industry through the use of advanced diagnostic systems, progressive techniques, and research-supported analyses. Employing a team of top specialists in their respective fields, Rock River Laboratory provides accurate, cost-effective, and timely analytical results to customers worldwide, while featuring unsurpassed customer service.
