The rapid growth sometimes makes them difficult to graze uniformly, and extended periods of wet weather may delay harvest for hay and result in an overmature, low-quality product. The most common use of summer annuals is grazing for dairy and beef cows, creep for calves, stockers from ryegrass grazing being taken to heavier weights, and swine. They make good yields, but the stems are larger and less leafy than millets and sudangrasses. Sorghum-sudan hybrids sometimes have lethal buildup of a poison called prussic acid which may occur when growth is reduced by drought, cold weather, or extended periods of cloudy weather. Normally prussic acid is not a problem except at frost time, when forage should not be grazed or harvested within 7 days following the first frost or until the forage has dried.
Many commercial varieties are available.
Your seed supplier or county Extension agent can help you select a suitable variety. Recently, several commercial companies have developed hybrid millet varieties that perform well in Mississippi. Millets are usually more leafy and have smaller stems than sorghum-sudan hybrids but normally do not yield as much dry matter per acre. However, on sandy soils and especially in south Mississippi, the millets do yield nearly as much as the sorghum-sudan hybrids. However, newer varieties that have been developed produce good yields, and the quality is nearly as good or as good as the millets.