Summer Annuals

Description
Our sudangrass hybrid from Alta is a very aggressive, drought-tolerant summer annual. It emerges more quickly and has faster regrowth than sorghum-sudan as well as finer stems that contribute to its superior quality.

Management
Sudangrass can be grazed or cut for baleage or haylage with an optimum grazing height of 30 inches and an optimum harvest height of 40 inches. Residual height (when recutting is planned) is 6 inches.
 
In southern zones, sudangrass can be made for dry hay, but it must be cut to 30 inches to achieve drydown. It responds well to applied fertility or manure. Timely cutting (45 days after planting and 30 days for subsequent cuts) is important because quality will decline as sudangrass reaches maturity.

Because sudangrass is highly sensitive to all herbicides, weed prevention—including starting with a clean field—must be done before planting. Sudangrass should not be grazed for 7-10 days after a killing frost as it takes about seven days for the prussic acid produced by the frost to dissipate.

Establishment
Sudangrass is easy to establish, but it does require 60°F soil temperatures (and rising) before planting. Seeding rates are 25 to 40 pounds per acre, with seeding at the higher rates providing the best yield and weed suppression. Seeding depth should be ¾ inch to 1 inch. It is best to get the seed into the soil moisture.  If the seed will be interseeded into an existing hay or pasture stand, the grass should be cut very short to achieve good