I seeded 150 acres of German millet after winter wheat. And I also included oilseed radish and red clover in the seed cocktail. The red clover never survived but the oilseed radish did just fine and produced large root-like structures that opened the soil and scavenged nutrients and whose size amazed everyone that saw them.

Mix of millet volunteer winter wheat and oilseed radish photographed in November.

But I was mainly interested in the German millet as a cover and hay crop. I seeded the cocktail in mid-July along with 40 lbs of nitrogen. Then the renter casually injected hog manure across the field over a 40 day period. The millet along with the volunteer winter wheat did fairly well considering that physically injecting hog manure or high nitrate concentrations killed off some of the stand.

So I begin harvesting the millet with a windrower in mid September with the intent of windrowing, raking and baling the forage in approximately 25 acre blocks. However after getting half the field cut and baled by the end of September, October turned out to be a rainy month and that kept me out of the field until November when I returned to finish harvest. However three October snow events did knock over the millet and I lost some of the leaf material.

I submitted six forage samples for analysis between September 19 and December 8 and the results were pretty similar across the six sampling dates. However the first sampling date in September had slightly higher quality. Overall crude protein averaged 11.74%, ADF averaged 38.25%, NDF averaged 69.67% and TDN averaged 58.95%. I did not bother to compare RFV because that only applies to dairy quality forages.

So how does millet compare to switchgrass taken off CRP, volunteer winter wheat and cornstalks? Winter wheat had higher crude protein (18.5) but other parameters were similar. Switchgrass had lower crude protein (4.34%), higher ADF and NDF and lower TDN. Cornstalks had lower crude protein (4.93%) but higher ADF, NDF and TDN).

The German millet was better quality than the switchgrass or cornstalks and while the volunteer winter wheat regrowth was higher quality it covers only a small part of the field where seed dropped out the back of the combine.

German millet cut at the boot or heading stage normally will have a feed value of 14% crude protein, 60% NDF and 60% TDN. On September 19, the millet had 11.3% crude protein, 64.4% NDF and 87.5 percent TDN. With such a high TDN it had a lot of energy.

A few weeks after heading, the feed value normally drops to around 10% crude protein, and 55% TDN with a 68% NDF. In my case the crude protein stayed around 10 to 11 percent while NDF increased to the 68 to 70% range while TDN dropped to 45 to 55% range.

Bruce Anderson, extension forage specialist at the University of Nebraska said to pay attention primarily to crude protein and TDN. The millet's TDN ranged from 45 to 55% which means it contains energy, is digestible and cows will find it palatable.

He also expected the millet to be better than grass coming out off CRP acres. "It will be better than CRP hay which always has a fair amount of old dead material that is harvested. However remember that cornstalks are always at the bottom of the list because they provide primarily fiber with a NDF around 80%."

"Millet makes excellent forage for stock cows," said Anderson. "TDN is in the low to mid 50s and protein is greater than 8 percent. It has the protein and energy to support the cow through the winter, up until about a month before calving when some supplemental protein and energy will be required."

He explained that the millet with its energy and protein level has more value for the cow calf producer than the feedlot operator. "The feedlot operator needs a certain percentage of roughage in his ration and crude protein and TDN isn't that critical. Sure some will credit for extra protein but they mainly get that from by-products. However, your millet has more than enough NDF with values in the 70s (percentage) that it provides enough fiber to stimulate chewing and saliva production and buffer the pH in the rumen."

So here you have it, millet hay is better than cornstalks or grass but I need to find the market that will value the quality.