A dry finish to a season, particularly on lighter soil, can provide a stern test to any sorghum program, but when you get a variety which can both stay standing and produce good yields in tough conditions, it can be a gamechanger.
Talk to many farmers on the Darling Downs, and they’ll tell you standability is key to a good sorghum. Simply put, there’s no point having a high yielding variety if it falls over before harvest.
With drought tolerance at the top of his priority list, Darling Downs farmer Nick Shepherd turned to Pioneer® grain sorghum hybrid G33.
Operating a dryland property at Brymaroo on the Darling Downs, Brett Campbell understands the importance of selecting sorghum hybrids with an early-to-mid maturity, allowing crops to finish on a dry end to a season.
Heading in to the 2016/17 summer Sid Godwin was looking for a new sorghum variety to try and his agronomist recommended Pioneer® brand G44 hybrid sorghum.
Farming predominantly heavy box country at South Felton in Queensland, Don Steffens needs to grow sorghum varieties that stand up well. This is one of the reasons Pioneer® brand G33 forage sorghum hybrid is amongst the line-up of sorghum varieties he grows on his 485-hectare property ‘Plain Park’.
With a good yield performance and a bright red colour, Pioneer® brand G22 hybrid sorghum performed well for Roland Teakle on his southern Queensland property in the dry and hot conditions last summer. The conditions were so extreme, Mr Teakle was harvesting sorghum in February for the first time ever, yet G22 still performed by out-yielding other sorghum varieties on the property.
Producing a bright red marketable grain, and handling cold conditions are two key attributes southern Queensland farmer Braden Bullock likes about Pioneer® brand G22 hybrid sorghum.
Central Queensland can produce harsh growing seasons, which is why standability is at the top of the list for Arcturus grower Roland Hornick.
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