Choosing The Right Millet For Your Needs
Millet is a warm season annual grass that is ideal for late season planting forage, hay, or silage. There are many Millet species, so which one should you grow? That’s what we’ll focus on today in our blog. We’ve put together a list of the different millets we carry at Pulse USA to help you determine which one is right for you & your situation.
A major attribute of Millet, in comparison to other warm season grasses, is that it doesn’t contain prussic acid. Millet is fast growing with maturities as quick as 50-60 days making it ideal for the growing seasons when you have limited time but need feed or forage for your livestock. Millets, in general, require little water and have a high tolerance to drought conditions. We include the various Millet species in our cover crop and wildlife mixes depending on what the mixture is used for.
The first & most popular Millet that we’ll discuss is German Millet. German Millet is a member of the foxtail millet species so it looks similar to other foxtail millets that you might be familiar with. It has a fine stem, high tillering capacity and can be cut for hay in as little as 60 days. German Millet is typically cut one time but produces more tonnage in that one cutting than what other Millets can produce in two cuttings. On average, the yield potential is 2-3 tons per acre reaching 36” at full maturity. It grows well in drought conditions, hot temperatures and light sandy soils.
Up next is Japanese Millet which is categorized in its own species. It is fast growing, arguably quicker than German Millet, so it is great at suppressing weeds late in the growing season. Japanese Millet has good re-growth potential so a second cutting is a possibility when planted early in the growing season. Just leave 4” of stubble to allow the best regrowth. On average, the yield potential is 0.75- 1 tons per acre reaching 48” at full maturity. It grows well in areas that receive moderate to high levels of annual precipitation and on heavy, wet soils. It even has a good tolerance to flooding and will grow in shallow, standing water making it a great option for Preventive Plant or water-logged acres. In comparison to other Millets, it is the best choice for growing in saline areas. Since it can handle higher amounts of moisture, when you’re using it for hay production it’s important to pay attention to the moisture level before putting it in the bale. It has coarse stems so it will take a little extra time for it to dry down.
The next is Pearl Millet which is another millet categorized by its own species. It has a high leaf to stem ratio making it a great option for hay or silage production. Pearl Millet regrows incredibly well to provide multiple cuttings, the earlier it is planted would determine how many cuttings you could expect. Pearl millet requires 6-8” of stubble for the best regrowth. On average, the yield potential is 2-4 tons per acre. If Pearl Millet is left to grow to full maturity, it can grow up to 6’ tall, but it should be cut for hay at 2-3’ for the best feed quality. It grows well in drought conditions, hot temperatures and light sandy soils. It is moderately tolerant to saline acres but Japanese Millet would still be the better option for those areas.
Next is Siberian millet which is another foxtail type millet. Siberian Millet is the fastest maturing millet amongst all others, reaching full maturing approximately 7 days earlier than German Millet. It is fast growing and is used for single cutting hay. This would be a good option if your planting date gets pushed back but you want to produce something quick to add more bales to your hay inventory. It is very drought tolerant and grows well in hot temperatures. On average, the yield potential is 2-3 tons per acre reaching 3-5’ at full maturity. It is very drought tolerant and will grow well in hot weather conditions.
White Proso & Red Proso are the final two millets that we carry. White Proso & Red Proso are typically grown for grain production or wildlife purposes rather than forage production. Both White Proso & Red Proso have an extremely short growing seasons and can be planted late in the year, as late as August 1st in some areas, and harvested as early as 30 days after planting. If you needed to put up some hay quickly late in the year, White Proso could be used but the quality & tonnage would be sacrificed in comparison to the other millet options. White Proso and Red Proso are drought tolerant and will be short at full maturity, it isn’t uncommon for either to reach only 12”. On average, the grain yield of White Proso millet is 40-50 bushels per acre and Red Proso is 20-30 bushels per acre.
All in all, there is a millet specie for almost any needs. Whether you’re needing high qualify forage, a food plot for deer or to suppress weeds on Preventive Plant acres we can find the right millet for your needs. If you have any questions about the millet types that we carry we’re only a phone call away!
