Summer Annuals

Description
Pearl millet is a warm-season, annual grass with a growth habit like sorghum-sudan but without the potential for prussic acid poisoning. As a warm-season annual, pearl millet should be planted in the early summer and, like most crops, it will yield best in fertile, well-drained soils. However, it also will perform relatively well on sandy soils, acid soils, wet soils or when moisture and fertility are relatively low. Although millet seems to be utilized mainly for grazing, it can also be harvested for silage.

Pearl millet will provide grazing 45 to 60 days after planting with yields that can reach over 6 tons of dry matter per year under good fertility.

Management
To avoid nitrate toxicity potential, do not apply excessive amounts of nitrogen or graze drought-stressed plants. Frost will kill pearl millet just as it kills sorghum-sudan, but pearl millet can still be grazed with no fear of prussic acid poisoning.
 
Although rotational grazing will greatly improve grazing efficiency because managed grazing is more efficient, pearl millet may be continuously grazed. Grazing may be initiated after plants reach 18 to 20 inches or are cut at 24 to 30 inches.
 
Regrowth is best if a stubble height of 4 to 5 inches remains. An additional 40 to 50 units of nitrogen should be applied after first harvest or grazing to maximize regrowth.

Establishment
Pearl millet should be planted in early summer when soil  temperatures reach 60°F to 65°F. It can be broadcast-seeded into a prepared seedbed or drilled.  If broadcast-seeded, the soil must be firm prior to broadcasting and then cultipacked to ensure good seed-to-soil contact. A seeding rate of 25 to 40 pounds per acre should be used.
 
If pearl millet is drilled, the seeding rate should be 15 to 20 pounds per acre and the seeding depth ½ inch to 1 inch. For best results, soils should be soil tested and P2O5 and K2O applied accordingly. In the absence of a soil test, 70 to 90 pounds of both
P2O5 and K2O should be applied along with 60 to 70 units of nitrogen at seeding.
 
Between ¾ unit and 1 unit of nitrogen should be spoon-fed per growing day rather than applied all at once. In grazing situations, ½ unit of nitrogen per growing day will be more appropriate.