by Dr. Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomist, Lubbock, 806-746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu;
Dr. Vanessa Corriher-Olson, Extension Forages, Overton, 903-834-6191, vacorriher@ag.tamu.edu
With the widespread presence of sugarcane aphid (SCA) in Texas in 2014 and the apparent expansion occurring again in 2015 for this damaging aphid to Texas sorghums—grain, forage sorghum, sorghum/sudan, etc.—growers interested in annual forage and grazing may have another option that appears to be unaffected by SCA. Hybrid pearl millet (HPM) is a leafy forage that can have a fit in some grazing and haying operations.
Field observations in several Texas areas in 2014 by producers, county ag. extension agents, and millet breeders did not find SCA in HPM. Though hybrid pearl millet has not yet been tested in USDA forage screening test (proso has, and it was not a host for SCA), the body of evidence points to non-host status to SCA.
The Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences is developing a summary of potential hybrid pearl millet use as an apparent alternative, at least for some acres, among Texas forage producers who seed annual crops like sorghum/sudan. “Hybrid Pearl Millet as an Alternative to Sugarcane Aphid-Susceptible Sorghum Family Forages” will be available the week of May 4 at http://publications.tamu.edu/ Key points include:
• Although two insecticides are labeled for use in sorghum family forages to control SCA, both require withdrawal of livestock for 7 days.
• Hay and forage growers, especially on smaller acreages, may be less willing or less able to spray for sugarcane aphid if treatment thresholds are met. This could be particularly damaging to a forage crop as leaf area is lost thus making HPM more attractive for growers even if forage yield potential may be lower.
• Millet is best adapted to sandier soils, but it also tolerates high pH soils better than sorghum family forages due to a different iron uptake mechanism.
• Millet is not susceptible to prussic acid development—it is not a member of the sorghum family—in summer drought and fall frost situations, but it can accumulate nitrate.
• Millet is small seeded, one-fourth to one-fifth that of most sorghums thus it can’t be planted as deep.
• Other millets like German (foxtail) millet and proso millet are not likely replacements for some sorghum forage acres. The former is a short maturity, lower yielding forage, and proso is best suited for contract grain production.
For additional information about hybrid pearl millet management consult:
Central and East Texas: “Warm-season annual forage grasses for Texas” (2012), E-630, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service (V.A. Corriher), http://foragefax.tamu.edu/files/2013/05/WSAForagesforTexas.pdf
West Texas: “Millets for Forage and Grain in New Mexico and West Texas” (2012), A-417, New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service (M.A. Marsalis, L.M. Lauriault, C. Trostle), http://lubbock.tamu.edu/files/2012/07/Millets-for-NM-West-TX-2012-A-417.pdf
Calvin Trostle, Professor and Extension Specialist Lubbock, TX 803.746.6101 ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu