Description
Betta Graze is a tall, late flowering, late maturing hybrid (sorghum x sudan grass hybrid) grown for, high yielding summer feed for grazing in dairy, beef and sheep systems.
Cold tolerance king. Southern Victorian specialist. First to plant, first to feed.
Rapid early growth, quick recovery after grazing or cutting along with delayed flowering, means Betta Graze is a versatile, easy to manage summer feed. It has a high sugar content, fine stems and a high leaf-to-stem ratio for excellent palatability and good feed value. Betta Graze has high palatability and is highly suited to general grazing, hay production and round bale silage.
Excellent recovery from grazing or cutting, the fast growing nature of Betta Graze and its cold tolerance, mean it is the first forage sorghum you can plant and the first you can feed to any type of livestock.
Key benefits of Betta Graze
- Longer maturity meaning flexible feed windows, providing better feed quality for longer with ease of management.
- First to plant for early summer feed due to its early fast establishment and vigour
- Smaller diameter, fine stems suits grazing by many livestock types, hay and round baling.
- Known for its robust regrowth and getting more leafy feed sooner grazing or cutting.
- Cold tolerant gives fast early growth
- Responds well to heavy grazing or cutting with quick growth and an abundance of tillers
- High sugar content
- Fine stems and disease-free leaves
| Variety | Betta Graze |
|---|---|
| Sowing date | Mid Spring |
| Sowing depth | 10-15mm |
| Sowing rate | 20-25kg/ha |
| Ready to graze | 50-70 days |
| Energy | 9-10 MJME/kgDM |
| Companion species (Autumn sown) | Summer legumes, such as Reaper Red Clover |
| Early Seeding Vigour | 9 |
|---|---|
| Beef Grazing | 9 |
| Dairy Grazing | 9 |
| Sheep Grazing | 7 |
| Hay Making | 8 |
| Fast Feed | 9 |
| Late Summer Carry Over Feed | 3 |
| Pit Silage | 3 |
| Round Bale Silage | 9 |
GRAZING
High sugars, fine stems and higher digestibility allows for greater intake and better crop area utilisation – commitment to graze early and often (at 1 to 1.5 metres in plant height). Strict management is required to realise full genetic potential and quality. Graze early and often. Back-fencing is essential to minimize plant damage and allow quick re-growth in the grazed portion of the crop and to avoid crop toxicity. For maximum re-growth potential aim to leave a grazing residual of 15 cm. The crop can be recut or grazed after 4 – 5 weeks when it is at least 0.8 m in height.
FEED VALUE
The drymatter content of Betta Graze that is 0.8 – 1.0m in height is typically between 13 – 17% DM with 15% being a good average figure to use to determine cow crop allowance. Forage sorghum cross sudan-grass hybrids produce feed with an average energy content of between 9.0 and 10.0 MJME/kgDM depending on crop maturity at harvest time.
SILAGE
Betta Graze can be made into pit, bunker or round bale silage. It is always recommended to cut using a mower-conditioner and wilt in the paddock for a maximum of 48 hour depending on weather conditions at the time. Betta Graze can also be made into large or small square or round bales to provide excellent fodder conservation for your operation.
PRUSSIC ACID
Betta Graze, like all forage sorghums, can release the toxic compound hydrogen cyanide (HCN) causing prussic acid poisoning. Potential Prussic acid poisoning from grazing Betta Graze poses a lower risk than forage sorghums that are not crossed with a Sudan grass.
SOIL FERTILITY
The ideal soil pH range for this forage sorghum seed is 5.5 – 8, and the phosphate level should be greater than 20 ppm. In acidic soils, lime should be applied and incorporated during seedbed preparation.
SOWING RATE
- Marginal Dryland: 2-10 kg/ha
- Good Dryland: 5-25 kg/ha
- Irrigation and Coastal: 10-30 kg/ha
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