Disappointing wheat yields do not have to be how you remember 2023 in given fields. Planting double-crop sorghum into those fields immediately after wheat harvest or abandonment gives you the chance to end 2023 with a positive outcome. Now with Double Team™ Sorghum, double cropping with sorghum becomes easier because you can control volunteer wheat which has been a problem in the past. Double-crop sorghum with Double Team is simple and your management will be similar to conventional double-crop sorghum.

Double Team Hybrids

Double Team hybrid selection is easy for double cropping. Options include an early maturity hybrid as well as two that will make grain as long as they are planted by July 4th in most double-crop sorghum areas. Click here to learn more about the hybrids available in your area.

Weed Control

Volunteer wheat will be one of your biggest weed threats in double-crop sorghum. FirstAct™ herbicide, which is part of the Double Team Sorghum solution provides excellent control of volunteer wheat. Pre-emergence herbicides that contain a chloroacetamide herbicide are required with Double Team and are required to start the crop with a clean field and early season grass and broadleaf control. Including atrazine in your pre-emerge application will improve broadleaf weed control to the level that additional applications may not be necessary to achieve season-long broadleaf weed control.

One application of FirstAct will be very effective in controlling volunteer wheat. If you have other troublesome grass weeds in the field, FirstAct will also be very effective in controlling those too. Be sure to follow the labeled rates for any target weeds.

KEEP IN MIND that if you planted CoAXium wheat in the field where you are considering planting Double Team sorghum in, FirstAct will not control the volunteer CoAXium wheat. And, if you applied Aggressor herbicide to the wheat, that counts as your first quizalofop application for the year. This would limit you to one application of FirstAct in your Double Team Sorghum.

Fertility

Applying 100 pounds of nitrogen (N) is recommended for double-crop sorghum because an 80 bu/ac yield goal is reasonable. If your yield goals are substantially different, use those yield goals to determine N recommendations. Nitrogen must be applied despite the temptation to try and hedge your N applications based on carryover from wheat. If you grew enough straw for 40 bu/ac wheat, regardless of the final yield, most of the N you applied to your wheat is tied up in the wheat straw. Relying on carryover N from your wheat might result in disappointing sorghum yields.

Since phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) levels are managed in a long-term fertilizer system, you can take this opportunity to add more P and K to your systems if you are trying to build soil levels. If your P and K levels are where you want them, applying P and K to your double-crop sorghum is an option.

Seeding rates

Since you are planting during the summer months and night temperatures are at their highest, tiller production will be low in double-crop sorghum. To compensate for lower tiller production, it is recommended that you increase seeding rates 15 to 20% over seeding rates you used a month earlier for full season sorghum production.