Results from two trials evaluating 11 forage sorghums as silage crops indicated
that silage quality traits of voluntary intake, digestibility, and crude protein content
were linearly associated with the agronomic characteristics of days to half bloom and
plant height. Intake was negatively associated with plant height (r = -.49);
digestibility was negatively associated with days to half bloom (r = -.39) and plant
height (r = -.49); and crude protein was negatively associated with days to half bloom
(r = - .51) and plant height (r = -. 71). Within the same cultivar, but between years,
voluntary intake varied by as much as 30 percent, digestibility by 13 percent, and
protein content by 12.5 percent. Forage sorghums were also compared to grain
sorghum and corn hybrids.
