FEEDS FOR BEEF CATTLE 503 



782. Silage from kafir and other sorghums. In silage from the sor- 

 ghums the feeder of the semi-arid districts has an admirable substitute 

 for corn silage. In 3 trials by Cochel at the Kansas Station 115 steer 

 calves were wintered on about 26 Ibs. of corn, kafir, or sweet sorghum 

 silage per head daily, with 1 Ib. of cottonseed meal or linseed meal in 

 addition. All lots made satisfactory gains and the several kinds of 

 silage had nearly the same feeding value per ton, kafir silage being fully 

 equal to corn silage and sweet sorghum silage being of slightly lower 

 value. However, the acre yield of sweet sorghum silage was 16.9 tons, 

 while corn yielded 12.1 tons and kafir slightly less. Considering this 

 fact, the sweet sorghum silage was the cheapest. In dry seasons in this 

 section, corn may be injured by drought so much that the crop is 

 practically a failure, while a fair yield of silage will be secured from the 

 sorghums. 



Under the humid conditions of the corn belt and the southeastern 

 states, sweet sorghum will often produce a larger tonnage of silage than 

 corn. To determine which crop is more profitable to raise in this district 

 for fattening cattle, Good, Horlacher, and Grimes carried on trials with 

 2-year-old steers during 3 years at the Kentucky Station. 116 Each year 

 one lot of steers was fed sorghum silage, corn grain, and wheat straw, 

 with cottonseed meal to balance the ration, while another lot received 

 corn silage in place of the sorghum silage. One year soybean straw and 

 corn stover were fed to each lot in addition. The steers fed sorghum 

 silage gained less rapidly in each trial, on the average the daily gain per 

 head being 0.24 Ib. less than for the steers fed sorghum silage. Further- 

 more, these steers required considerably more feed for 100 Ibs. gain and 

 they sold for 12 cents less per cwt., due to a trifle poorer finish. On the 

 other hand it was found that during a five year period an average of 

 16.78 tons of sorghum silage was secured per acre compared with 10.75 

 tons for corn silage, or 56 per ct. more from sorghum. The greater yield 

 of sorghum silage did not, however, fully offset the other advantages 

 of corn silage. Considering all factors, it was concluded that growing 

 sorghum for silage was only 92 per ct. as economical as raising corn 

 for silage. In 2 trials by Gayle at the Mississippi Station 117 sorghum 

 silage was also worth considerably less per ton than corn silage. From 

 these trials we may conclude that under humid conditions corn silage is 

 usually more profitable than sorghum silage for beef production. 



783. Silage from other crops. Several other crops furnish satisfactory 

 silage for beef production. In fact in nearly every district of the 

 country some economical crop may be grown. 



Sunflower silage has attracted much attention in the last few years, 

 as has already been pointed out. (384, 636) Sunflower silage has been 

 compared directly with corn silage in trials by Blizzard at the Oklahoma 

 Station 118 and by Fuller, Morrison, and Sommerfeld at the Wisconsin 



m Amer. Soc. Anim. Prod., Proceedings, 1915-16, pp. 9-14. 



" 8 Ky. Bui. 233. '"Miss. Bui. 182. M8 Okla. Buls. 134, 139. 



