What they are growing

Posted the other week asking what might be growing in the fields near me that looked a lot like stunted corn. After seeing the pics ya"ll sent, and doing a little more research I thought it was Milo. Then, the other day, a customer was by my place and mentioned that it was the first time in a lot of years that he had seen Milo growing around here.

That said, as I mentioned in my post asking what it was, the usual crops around here are corn, soybeans, and cotton. I understand that rotating crops is good for the soil, but given the usual crops in rotation, what benefit, if any, would there be to now throw Milo into the mix beyond it simply being yet another cash crop? Just curious.

If it is what i see in my area, It is another of our government "better ideas" Takes three years to mature, And according to the g, man it is gonna replace coal.LOL... They are building a plant to process this into pellets.. a grant aka out tax dollars are paying an some 30 million for land rent and equipment. out bidding corn and bean growers for the land for something that will never work.. It has to be harvested between April and November. {good luck with that in this area}

Some around here grow milo for their own use simply because it can be harvested with a conventional combine header. It's also a little cheaper to grow than corn. Around here we grow rice, corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, peanuts, milo, hay, cotton and now there is some of the gooberment switch grass.

Milo is more drought resistant then corn and soy beans

Milo is an annual, just like corn. Basically the same feed value as corn, but almost always has to be cracked to release the nutritional values.
If you ever get into Milo dust, you will never forget it!!

I have never seen milo but undrestand it is a feed crop for livestalk. So they might be planning on using it for that and could be breaking up a weed herbicide problem as I would guess it will take different herbicides to control weeds or would it do that without any herbicides?

The seed companies are probably looking at ways to splice it in with corn to make it more drought resistant.

Put some milo kernels in one of the old corn poppers, the kind that pop in oil. Better than good!

An annual that takes 3 years to mature???? I think that you are confusing milo with a native warm season grass such as switchgrass. Yes switchgrass is being successfully utilized as a fuel in power plants, along with cattle forage, hay, wildlife food and cover and erosion control. It is very fast growing, produces a lot of biomass, is draught resistant, tolerates low soil fertility. And yes, it can in some circumstance, be hard to establish.
I would be interested in knowing what part of the country you live in that a crop cannot be harvested between April and November.

We grew milo about every year to feed feeder cattle. Took it to the mill and fixed in corn and molasses. One year our wheat got hailed out just as we were planting some milo. We plowed 24 hour days and planted everything to milo. Pay day one way or the other.

I have never forgot the milo dust !1that was 40 yrs ago this month ,..durn wet fall , I was 17,, we put some in the bin that was a little hi in moisture ,// we grew milo for 15 yrs or more to feed hogs and give the cows a legup when ever the winters turned nasty ,,.///.. in a few days ,, I could tell that the milo was in trouble ,, had about 400 bu in there ,, didn't have a dryer floor then ,,. had to get it out of there,,,stuck the auger in ,, and started shoveling to the auger,,.i tied a handkerchef across my face to keep from breathin the yellow / green mold . younger brother was on the flat bed wagons spreading the milo out to dry ,, I was glad to take a break each time he switched out wagons .after couple hours . we were done,,.brother was hackin and coughin ,,but he came thru ..ok ,,cant remember much myself ,, I do remember I went to skating rink with my girlfriend future wife and could not get my breath ,so we left early ,next day went to hospital and stayed for over a week in oxygen... to this day I have scarred lungs that wont tolerate much . all grain and hay molds of all types can cause a fella trouble ,, so be careful

I"ve seen a lot of milo growing around here and in Maryland and PA, Amish farmers. Read an article that milo is now the in grains for vegans and is in short supply.

Milo makes a great food source for deer plots. We had 15 acres planted and we harvested 6 deer out of it in the same day. 6 different hunters of course. We would take turns in the ladder stand. One would shoot, then get down and another would wait for another deer to appear.

Milo has about 98% the energy rating as corn (as a feed). It rates above wheat. It isn't quite as high in crude protein but it is still in the top 3 of usual crops.

We always used wheat and milo in the feed grinder. I don't just because you don't often see it here. I would use it if I had it.

Any time a food product becomes popular, it becomes in short supply, whether it actually is or not. Know what I mean?