Quick answer: Sorghum-sudangrass makes a lot of good feed off few acres, but its thick stems are almost impossible to field-dry — so most operators wrap it wet as baleage. Cut before it gets over-mature, condition or crimp it hard, then rake the heavy windrows so the soggy bottom can dry; the stems feed through a baler badly until they're down around 25% moisture or wrapped wet. Watch two safety issues: prussic acid (worst in young regrowth and right after a frost — let wrapped bales ferment several weeks before feeding) and nitrates (worst with heavy nitrogen plus drought stress — test before you feed). Get it right and cows clean it up.
Sorghum-sudangrass is the summer workhorse of annual forages: drill it after a small grain or in place of a failed stand, and it throws huge tonnage in the heat when cool-season grass has quit. Farmers regularly report 2–3 cuttings and 7+ tons an acre. One operator's double-crop plan sums up the appeal: "Plant something in May, cut it, then plant sorghum-sudan in August and cut it after the first hard freeze. Two years ago I got 7.5 ton an acre on a little 10-acre patch."
The catch is that all that lush, thick-stemmed growth is genuinely hard to put up. Here's how the people who do it every year handle the drying, the baling, and — most importantly — the two feed-safety issues that come with the sorghum family.
Why sorghum-sudan almost always gets wrapped
The stems are the problem. They're thick, juicy, and hold water long after the leaves look dry. Making true dry hay is a battle most people lose:
"Makes great feed but very tough to get dry enough to bale as dry hay. If you can wrap it as baleage, you'll really like it."
— Moose333, SE Iowa · AgTalk thread 1102145
So the standard approach is to wrap it wet as baleage (or chop and bag it). Wrapping lets you cut at the right stage and preserve it without waiting on a week of drying weather you'll rarely get. If you're new to wet-wrapping forage, our first-time baleage guide covers the moisture, density, and film-layer basics that apply here.
One honest caveat from the field: fermented sorghum-sudan smells stronger than grass baleage, and a few operators report cattle that just won't touch the wet-wrapped version even though others' cows clean it up. As one put it, "Baled good and dry they eat it great. Any I've baled wet and wrapped they wouldn't eat it — no clue why." If you're feeding it for the first time, make good, tight, well-fermented bales and introduce it gradually.
The drying problem: heavy windrows and long stems
Even when you're wrapping wet, you usually have to knock some moisture out first — and that's where most sorghum-sudan baling goes sideways. The single best summary of the problem came from a Nebraska operator who's unplugged a lot of balers:
"The main problem is the stem is too long for it to feed very well unless it's relatively dry… they have quite a bit of resistance and drag unless they get down toward that 25% moisture level. The other problem is the windrows are usually so heavy it's very hard to get the bottom to dry. Let the top get good and dry, then come in with a good rake and flip it and let the bottom dry out some. I bet yours looked dry but was a soggy mess underneath."
— nc1112, Central Nebraska · AgTalk thread 881665
That thread started with exactly the failure everyone hits: a tall crop, mowed and left in fat windrows, that plugged the baler and wrapped stalks around the top roller four days later — because the bottom of the windrow was still soaking wet. The fixes the crowd offered:
- Condition or crimp it hard. "You have to crimp it pretty good if it's tall, so it can go from being straight to curved into the bale." Tall, un-crimped stems won't bend into a core. A roll or flail conditioner (one operator swears by a Recon) makes a night-and-day difference.
- Rake and flip the windrow to get the wet bottom up off the belts. "The bottom of the windrow is what contacts the belts, causing problems." A wheel rake or rotary rake that flips without roping the windrow works best — see our rake selection guide.
- Try picking the windrow up the opposite direction. Sometimes it feeds far better reversed.
- Expect it to be wetter than it looks. "It's always wetter than you think" and usually needs "a couple flips" to get into wrapping range.
If your net is wrapping the rollers, that's often the wet-crop symptom above rather than a net problem — but rule out the machine too with our guide to net wrap wrapping around the rollers.
When to cut: don't let it get away from you
Sorghum-sudan quality slides as it matures and stems get coarse, so the most-repeated mistake is simple:
"Biggest problem is letting it grow too large."
— angus man, Alabama · AgTalk thread 1102145
A practical target is to cut when it's roughly 3–4 feet tall (before it heads and before stems get woody), then let it regrow. That keeps quality up and makes the crop far easier to dry and bale than a 6-foot, fully-headed stand. There's a real tonnage-vs-quality tradeoff — letting it bulk up gives you more tons but coarser, wetter, harder-to-feed forage — and most operators who cut earlier are happier with the result. One reported cutting BMR sudan with a conditioner and getting it baled four days later, with the sample testing 14% protein.
On cuttings: 2–3 is realistic across most of the Corn Belt; four is a southern-latitude number. First cutting is usually the best — "first cutting is amazing, second fair, after that not worth cutting and the weeds come in." Second-cutting regrowth is often finer-stemmed and tests a little higher in quality, even if it yields less.
Prussic acid and nitrates: the two safety issues
This is the part you can't skip. The sorghum family (sorghum-sudangrass, sudangrass, forage and grain sorghum, johnsongrass) can carry prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide), and any heavily-fertilized, stressed forage can carry nitrates. Both are manageable — operators feed sorghum-sudan safely every year — but you have to respect them. We cover both in depth in our prussic acid and nitrates guide; here's the sorghum-specific short version.
Prussic acid (HCN)
Prussic acid is highest in young, fast regrowth and in growth that's just been hit by frost, which ruptures cells and releases it. The good news for baleage-makers is that ensiling and wrapping let much of it dissipate as the forage ferments and gases off. That's the reasoning behind the standard forum advice for frosted sorghum-sudan:
"No problems. Just give it time to ferment before feeding." … "We'd been told it's fine to use for feed — just wait like 60 or 90 days after harvesting it before you feed it."
— lgn98868 & nydirtfarmer, on baling frosted sudangrass · AgTalk thread 811538
Practical rules: don't bale or graze sorghum-sudan that's under about 18–24 inches tall, avoid cutting right after a frost (wait several days, or let frosted material wilt before wrapping), and let wrapped bales sit several weeks to a couple months before feeding so the prussic acid can dissipate. If in doubt, send a sample for a cyanide/prussic-acid test. One operator's tidy workaround if you'd rather not manage it at all: "Alternative is millet — no prussic acid problems." Millet is in a different genus and doesn't accumulate prussic acid, which is why it's a common swap where frost timing is tight.
Nitrates
Nitrates are a separate issue and they don't gas off the way prussic acid does — although fermentation does reduce them somewhat. They build up when the crop has plenty of nitrogen fertilizer and hits stress that stops growth — drought, then especially a killing frost. The universal advice is simply to test:
"If you're doing a sample anyway, be sure to pay the little bit extra and get nitrates tested too, even if you don't think it'll be an issue."
— tjdub, on pricing sorghum-sudan baleage · AgTalk thread 801435
Because you'll often be RFV/quality-testing the bales to value them anyway, adding a nitrate test is cheap insurance.
Baling moisture and the wrap
Once it's down in range, sorghum-sudan baleage follows the same rules as any wet-wrapped crop:
- Moisture: aim for ~50–60% for baleage. If you're making it as wrapped "tough" hay, you need it much drier (down toward 20–25%) for the long stems to feed and store — but in most climates that's exactly the dry-down you can't achieve, which is why wet baleage wins. Confirm with a probe; see our baling-moisture guide.
- Density: maximum. Run the silage/wet-hay pressure setting and pack out the air.
- Net wrap inside, 6–8 layers of film outside, wrapped promptly. Net wrap as the inner layer holds these heavy, springy bales in shape so the film seals cleanly. Wrap as soon as you can after baling.
Sorghum-sudangrass baleage, start to finish
- Cut before it's over-mature — around 3–4 ft, before heading and before frost if you can. Never cut sorghum-sudan under ~18–24 inches (prussic acid).
- Condition/crimp hard so the tall stems will bend into a bale.
- Rake and flip the heavy windrows to dry the soggy bottom; expect it wetter than it looks.
- Bale tight at ~50–60% with net wrap on the inside; wrap promptly with 6–8 layers of film.
- Wait to feed — let bales ferment several weeks (longer if frosted) to let prussic acid dissipate.
- Test for nitrates (and prussic acid if frosted or drought-stressed) before feeding free-choice.
Done right, sorghum-sudan is one of the cheapest ways to put up a mountain of summer feed. Cut it on time, dry the windrow's bottom, respect the two safety issues, and the cows will clean it up.
Frequently asked questions
Can you make dry hay from sorghum-sudangrass?
You can, but it's difficult in most climates — the thick stems hold moisture long after the leaves dry, and the stems need to get down toward 20–25% moisture to feed and store as dry hay. That usually takes conditioning plus several days of hot, windy weather and repeated raking. Because that window is hard to get, most operators wrap it wet as baleage at 50–60% moisture or chop and bag it instead.
When should you cut sorghum-sudangrass for baleage?
Cut before it gets over-mature — a common target is roughly 3–4 feet tall, before it heads out and before the stems get woody. Letting it grow taller adds tonnage but lowers quality and makes it much harder to dry and feed through a baler. Never cut or graze it under about 18–24 inches because young, fast growth is highest in prussic acid.
Is sorghum-sudangrass safe to bale after a frost?
Yes, with precautions. Frost ruptures plant cells and releases prussic acid, so don't cut immediately after a frost — wait several days, or let the frosted material wilt before wrapping. Wrapping as baleage actually helps, because much of the prussic acid dissipates during fermentation; the standard advice is to let wrapped bales sit several weeks to a couple of months before feeding. Frost combined with heavy nitrogen can also raise nitrates, which don't gas off, so test frosted, fertilized forage before feeding.
How do you keep sorghum-sudan from wrapping around the baler rollers?
It's usually a wet, long-stemmed crop problem rather than a baler fault. Condition or crimp the crop hard so the stems bend, rake and flip the heavy windrows to dry the soggy bottom that rides on the belts, try picking the windrow up in the opposite direction, and don't bale until the stems are actually in range. If a baler that handled it fine suddenly won't, also rule out a mechanical issue.
What does sorghum-sudangrass baleage test for feed value?
Cut on time and put up well, it's solid cattle feed — operators report samples around 14% protein from well-conditioned, timely-cut sudan. Second-cutting regrowth is often finer-stemmed and tests a bit higher in quality than first cutting, even though it yields less. Because quality swings with maturity and moisture, test the bales (and add a nitrate test) to value and ration them accurately.
The XES Netting team manufactures bale net wrap for round balers and writes these guides so forage operators can find clear, source-cited answers. Every farmer quote in this post is verbatim with a link to the original AgTalk thread — go read the discussions in full. This guide is general information, not veterinary or nutrition advice; test questionable forage and consult your nutritionist or extension office before feeding.
Featured photo: Alfalfa round bales by Gary D Robson, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
