The southern region of the High Plains has seen much improvement over the last few months. There was a major acre shift to sorghum in the high plains. This was due to several reasons, but some include an increase in the local basis, drought at the time of seed purchasing and the simple fact that there were a lot of dry land acres that had been corn on corn for several years and simply needed rotated out. Golden Acres® Genetics is the exclusive sorghum brand of LG Seeds, and the hybrids have been performing well in this acre shift. Some key products are included below.

GA1510C is the earliest maturity hybrid in the lineup and it is a new product this year. It’s a smaller to medium stature product with plenty of yield. It can be drilled or planted in 30-inch rows. It has good tolerance to sugar cane aphid and handles the higher pH in western Kansas, Nebraska, and eastern Colorado. It moves north well and can even be used into South Dakota. Canopy closure is one of its best attributes for such an early hybrid. It has excellent drought stress, which was evident in 2020 and has shown good drought tolerance again in 2021 in NW Kansas and NE Colorado.

 

GA2620C is a medium-early hybrid with excellent drought stress and yield for its maturity. It’s a definite step up in yield from other older products at the same maturity range. It’s a cream hybrid with a compact head style. It has bigger stature hybrid for its maturity with a higher and dense canopy. It has an excellent fit for most of the High Plains acres and moves south into Texas and north into South Dakota. If you’re planning to place this hybrid in the south, be sure to consider that it doesn’t have much tolerance to sugar cane aphid. If you’re looking for an early hybrid with bigger, more robust plant stature and yield – this is it.  

GA2730B has bronze grain and a more open head style. This particular hybrid offers a step up in yield at it’s maturity. The LG Seeds team considers it a go-to hybrid on northern High Plains acres, but it has adaptability from Nebraska down into Texas on acres where sugar cane aphid isn’t a concern. This product has an excellent high canopy and very nice head exertion.

 

GA3180B is a brand-new addition to the middle to late portion of the LG Seeds sorghum lineup. The comment made by the LG Seeds agronomy team every time they reviewed this hybrid was “This thing is going to yield.” – and it delivered on that yield. It’s an excellent fit on irrigated acres, as well as most marginal dry land acres in Nebraska and Kansas. It showed impressive drought stress tolerance in 2020 and continues to impress in 2021. Its distinct compact head type with somewhat larger plant structure, along with a high, dense canopy, makes for a very showy product in the field. It has very good tolerance to sugar cane aphid and an excellent agronomic package to back up all its yield potential.

GA4880R is another new addition to the Golden Acres portfolio of products. For a quick introduction to this hybrid, the LG Seeds agronomists refer to it as ‘THE BEAST’. This hybrid is the latest maturity hybrid  in the lineup and, as you may guess from the nickname, it is big. The big plant structure allows for big time yield. It brings high tolerance to sugar cane aphid and an excellent agronomic package to make it a must-plant on high performing dry land and irrigated acres where this maturity is a fit.

Planning for 2022 is right around the corner and harvest will be here before we know it. Be on the look out for yield results and plot data from some of our Golden Acres® Genetics products. If you are thinking about an acre shift in 2022, reach out to your local LG Seeds rep to discuss the choices available with sorghum.