# Sudan Grass question



## seanmn (Jan 10, 2006)

Thinking about using sudan grass as a cover crop for a pasture mix instead of oats. It would be used for hay the first year and then graze the year after...just worried that there would be some carry over to the next year and having sheep get sick/die from prussic acid......any experiences thoughts ideas suggestions???? I feel sudan grass might make a better hay than oat hay


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

My sheep love sudan grass HAY, but you have to be very careful about grazing Sudan. Sudan grass can concentrate a chemical (can't remember what it is offhand - I will look it up in Morrisons Feeds and Feeding) that can kill sheep, goats, cattle etc. When cut and dried for hay it changes and does not affect them.

I doubt your sheep will like Sudan more than Oat hay though. I think I will start a thread on my animals favorite kinds of hay and their order of preference.


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## Ralph in N.E.Oh (Sep 14, 2006)

I use sudan/sorgham grass here in our zone 5. I make hay out of it 45 days after it is planted. I overseed timothy and trefoil into the field right after taking the hay cutting off. I can then graze it once a week up until frost. I "stockpile" it sometimes for winter feeding by letting it stand in the field into winter. The sheep eat it then as it sticks up through the snow and on nice days after the snow melts the graze it quite close to the ground.
Prussic acid is a concern, don't let them it it when it is green and frosted.. Like in October. Once the plant has died and turns yellow like in winter it won't hurt anything. I hope this helps you out. Sudan is an anunal plant here in zone 5.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

We use a sorghum sudan grass. It's an annual and if stressed with drought or frost i produces prusic acid wich is toxic, you must either wait ........ a length of time for it to subside, or cut and either ensile or dry it to hay. Great feed harvested not great to graze. Not sure how different what you're considering is to what we've used, but if its similar we use ti to choke out the underseeded weeds or remaining crop. Not sure how well it works as a cover crop but you should get the right seeding rate from the seed dealer.


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

Yeah - Prussic acid is the chemical. Thanks all. Either way it is somewhat dangerous to use Sudan as pasture. There have to be other things less dangerous.


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## seanmn (Jan 10, 2006)

Thanks for the replys....I dont intend to graze sudan, just for a cover crop for new pasture grass/legumes and hopefully get one or two cuttings of hay from the sudan grass......They seem to like the oat hay alright but usually just the top part where it contains the seed head, also I've had problems with the oat hay turning to straw even though it was cut before it yellowed, from what I've read oat hay contains 4% protein and sudan hay contains 8% protein

my neighboor who used to milk cows used to grow some sudan grass for silage, seems like it would easily get 6 foot high if you let it


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

Oat hay just like Sudan Grass hay is harvested best when you get it just before the grain emerges - the oats or sudan seed (a relative of milo) should be in what is called the "Milk stage". If you let the grain past this stage form it becomes straw quickly.


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