Emerald Agricultural College: A Crop Production Plan For Sorghum

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Introduction Emerald Agricultural College (EAC) is a 3000-acre property in the Central Highlands region. The property is currently used for cotton production although this Crop Production Plan will be on Sorghum. Sorghum has many different varieties but for this crop production plan I have chosen two to plant, I will be planting 40 acres of Venture as a dryland crop and 40 acres Liberty as an irrigated crop. After these crops have been harvested I can then decide to increase the number of acres if the crops succeed. Aims and goals The aim of the sorghum crop production plan is to provide sorghum for animal consumption. According to the website grain pro sorghum is wanted in the Brisbane and Darling Downs area, with the number of feedlots and chicken sheds within these areas sorghum is a safe crop to produce as it is used in most feed mixes for cattle, pigs and chickens, therefore there will always be a market for it. …show more content…

Sorghum will yield best on loamy soils that are fertile, deep and well drained. It is tolerant to shallow soil and droughty conditions and can be grown successfully on clay, clay loam or sandy loam soil. ("Sorghum - planting information", 2011) At Emerald Ag College the soil where the crop will be produced is a black vertosol, this means the soil has a 60% or higher clay content and is therefore classified as a clay soil. This soil has a pH of 6.8 at 0-10cm and then a pH of 7.2 at 10-30 cm and an electrical conductivity of 85ec, meaning it is moderately saline soil. This type of soil can have workability and tillage problems and compacts easily when wet. Sorghum will be able to succeed in the paddocks at the ag college as the pH is nearly optimum for maximum yield, although the soil is not a loamy soil the crop will still be able to grow successfully with the clay soil in these