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Agronomi c and silage quality traits were measure d for 37 forage sorghum cultivars and three grain sorghum hybrids. The 1995 growing season was characterized by above average rainfall in the spring and early summer, and a hard freeze on September 22. At the time of the freeze, 20 cultivars had reached the earlymilk to early-dough stage, 12 were in the bloom stage, and the remaining eight were still in the earlyto late-boot stage . The late planting date and low plant populations resulted in below-normal whole-plant D M and grain yields. Plant heights for the grain sorghums were near normal, but the forage sorghums were well below expected plant heights. The preensiled, whole-plan t DM contents of the 37 forage sorghums ranged from 23.0 to 39.9%. As expected , the silage nutritive value traits of CP, NDF, and ADF were most favorable for the three grain sor ghum hybrids and least favorable for the eight forag e sorghum hybrids that were still in the boot stage when the freeze occurred. |
