ABSTRACT

With climate change impacting agricultural practices globally, the potential of sorghum as a forage crop for dairy cattle has triggered attention. This paper is presenting a literature review on economic importance of sorghum, the research carried out in Romanian space and a brief analysis on the nutritional and economic importance of using green sorghum as forage for dairy cattle in the context of climate change. Scientific literature highlights the adaptability of different sorghum hybrids to local conditions and their production potential, demonstrating that optimized crop management techniques can significantly improve sorghum yield and nutritional quality. The projected economic results of the average size farm of 100 milking cows, with an average production of 5,000 liters of milk/year/head, indicate obtaining of 230,875.5 euro as total income, of which 211,267.61 euro from milk. Forages cost is of 0.23 euro/liter of milk of a total cost of 0.39 euro/liter and the minimum net profit rate of 9.8% per year. Total necessary surface for producing all forages in the farm is of 110.45 ha, but if the farmer purchases all concentrated forages (including grain corn), the surfaces reduce at 72.27 ha. Our analysis has shown that including sorghum in summer and winter rations for dairy cows can meet nutrient and protein requirements while keeping costs reasonable.

Keywords: sorghum, climate change, sustainable cropping, livestock systems.