Forages for Profit

Brown Mid Rib Sorghums

WHAT AND WHY BMR?
Sorghums with the Brown Mid Rib (BMR) gene have shown marked reduction of lignin content in the plant. The lignin component of the cell walls is the primary limiting factor of forage fiber digestion.

Phillips BMR hybrids with the BMR 6 gene have shown as high as 40% increase in digestibility over conventional hybrids, because of the reduced lignin. This increase in digestibililty allows our BMR hybrids to approach or equal the feed value of corn silage – while requiring one third less water and very significantly less nitrogen fertilizer than corn.

Phillips BMR hybrids offer the latest in BMR genetics to give producers the best package of forage quality and improved standability not available in all hybrids sold commercially.

In extensive research at Purdue University, BMR 6 gene forages from Phillips Seed have been proven to be superior to older BMR 12 gene and BMR 18 gene technologies offered by many other seed companies.

Return per acre in meat and milk production, due to the increased digestibility provided by BMR 6 gene products from Phillips Seed, allows producers to capture a greater return on their total investment compared to conventional sorghums or the BMR 12 or 18 gene products offered by other seed companies.

In addition to standard BMR 6 gene forage sorghums and sorghum-sudan crosses, Phillips Seed offers photoperiod sensitive, male sterile, and brachytic dwarf hybrids.

Photoperiod Sensitive (PS) hybrids initiate heading in response to day length, as opposed to accumulated heat units. Phillips Seed’s BMR PS hybrid sorghum-sudan cross, BMR 63, is a long day plant, meaning it will not ini- tiate heading until the day length is less than 12.5 hours. It will remain vegetative until almost mid September, providing growers with a wider window of opportunity to harvest quality, non-mature forage.

Male sterile hybrids, such as Phillips BMR 64 hybrid forage sorghum, do not produce pollen for self fertilization. If there is no nearby pollen source to cross pollinate, then male sterile hybrids will produce no grain. All the sugars and proteins stay in the leaves and stalks instead of moving into the grain – thereby maintaining the digestibility and palatability of the whole plant.

Brachytic dwarf forages, such as Phillips BMR 60D hybrid forage sorghum and BMR 68D hybrid sorghum-sudan cross, offer top forage quality with superior standability. Brachytic dwarf types stand because they have dramatically shortened internodes, resulting in comparable yields due to almost double the number of leaves per foot of plant and increased number of tillers. The leaves are normal sized, but the extremely short spaces between the leaves deliver a much higher leaf to stalk ratio for improved feed quality and palatability.