Do not feed new silage for at least 3 weeks after ensiling. Use this management program to minimize the danger of prussic acid poisoning and provide the most pasturage from a given area. For continual grazing of sudangrass or sorghum-sudangrass hybrids during the summer months, it is desirable to have the acreage divided into two or more areas so that livestock may be rotated from one area to another. This avoids the necessity of pasturing a field when much of the grass consists of small new growth, as is the case when a relatively large field is slowly grazed down. The dates of planting can be staggered by a week or 10 days each so that all areas are not ready for grazing at the same time.
Rotational grazing has other notable advantages.
It makes possible the production of more pasturage from a given area because the grass is allowed to get a good start and produce a large amount of leaf surface before being pastured. It is in the actively growing young leaves that much of the carbohydrate and protein synthesis take place. If these leaves are grazed off as soon as formed, the grass does not rapidly manufacture carbohydrate and protein and, hence, does not grow rapidly. In rotational grazing, the plants have the advantage of rapid growth that comes only after a good start. Still another advantage of rotational grazing is that it causes a more uniform removal of the old growth, and the regrowth obtained will be more palatable.