Table 2.4 showed that alcohol production from stem for Keller, Wray, Rio and Shennong No.2 was similar. Although sweet sorghum is primarily grown to produce sorghum syrup, it can also be used as a feedstock for biofuel. Cropping season: one hectare planted with sweet sorghum will yield 95-125 tons after a planting season of 100-115 days, compared to sugar cane's 65-90 tons per hectare with a longer crop season of 300-330 days. In favorable environments, sweet sorghum varieties can grow 14 feet tall and produce 20 to 50 tons of biomass (fresh weight) per acre. At the same time you can choose the path of value addition where you will have the freedom to dictate the price against market forces. Verdict. If producers can obtain prices of $20 to $25 per gallon of sorghum syrup, net returns of more than $2,500 per acre are possible at yield levels of 175 gallons and above. Sugar content: the MMSU studies have shown that sugarcane has up to 14 percent sugar content while sweet sorghum has 23 percent. The juice yield per hectare of sweet sorghum could be calculated according to the yield of fresh stem and juice rate. Scott Staggenborg, director of research at Chromatin, Inc., the parent company of the seed firm Sorghum Partners, gave plenty of ideas at the annual SorghumU meetings in … Sweet Sorghum Varieties Best Adapted to Kentucky The best sweet sorghum varieties for your farm should have the following desirable characteristics: (1) produce a high yield of medium to large stalks per acre, (2) have strong, erect growth so it will not readily lodge, (3) contain a high percentage of extractable juice, (4) contain juice with Managed correctly, grain sorghum yields can exceed 130 bushels per acre. The processing of Sorghum Syrup can be an attraction for visitors to the area, as well as old-time residents who remember sorghum being produced in almost every neighborhood in the past. Sweet sorghum is the same species (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) as grain sorghum. Optimum planting rates for forage sorghum are about 8 to 12 pounds of seed per acre. Sorghum farming can be a good investment although you really need to dedicate yourself to it in order to realize its returns. To maximize ethanol yield, juice extraction must remove at least 50% of juice from the stalks. The average yield for sweet sorghum is 175 gallons per acre; however, yields can go as high as 200 to 300 gallons per acre. The typical number of grain kernels per panicle can vary from 1,000 to 3,000, for an average of approximately 2,000 kernels. Seed lots often contain about 14,000 to 17,000 seeds per pound, and sorghum emergence is often about 75 percent, so these planting rates will result in plant populations of 85,000 to 150,000 plants per acre. Sugar Sweet is fine stemmed and super sweet forage sorghum ensuring a flexible and versatile forage option. Sweet sorghum can grow to be 14 feet tall, yielding between 7 and 15 tons dry matter per acre under favorable conditions and is four times more energy efficient than corn. Yield is determined by the interaction of three components: number of grain kernels per panicle, weight of the individual grain kernels and number of panicles per acre. Low Yield per acre – Ksh50,000 Bumper Harvest per acre – Ksh400,000. Alcohol production from stem could be calculated according to alcohol degree fermented from juice of stem. It has finer stems and higher levels of leaf than other traditional sweet sorghums but still offers equivalent brix levels and forage yields per hectare. Sweet Sorghum production for syrup can offer small producers an alternative crop for increasing farm income.