Farmers cite both harvesting difficulties as well as problems in getting it planted on time.
Well-known and respected Holstein breeders, farmers and sales yard operators Walker Farms, south of Aylmer, planted 88 acres of pearl millet last year, using the exotic annual crop as a replacement for alfalfa on fields where the perennial is hard to maintain. But a second crop didn't get in the ground this year, says manager Rudolph Martinez. The field was converted to other crops for management reasons, he says. Forage pearl millet is not your average forage crop. Developed in the tropics, it can grow more than six feet high, but is best harvested at 2.5 feet.