However, some sorghum varieties and hybrids which were developed to deter birds are less palatable due to tannins and phenolic compounds in the seed. Pasturing cattle or sheep on sorghum stubble, after the grain has been harvested, is a common practice. Both roughage and dropped heads are utilized. Grain sorghum may also be used as whole-plant silage, however another sorghum, sweet sorghum, was developed as a silage crop. Sweet sorghum produces much higher forage yields than grain sorghum, but feed quality will likely be lesser because there is no grain.
Some growers mix grain sorghum with soybeans to produce a higher protein silage crop.
Grain sorghum is a grass similar to corn in vegetative appearance, but sorghum has more tillers and more finely branched roots than corn. Growth and development of sorghum is similar to corn, and other cereals. Sorghum seedlings are smaller than corn due to smaller seed size. Before the 1940s, most grain sorghums were 5-7 feet tall, which created harvesting problems. Today, sorghums have either two or three dwarfing genes in them, and are 2-4 feet tall.