SORGOFAR – Evaluation of summer annual forage alternatives to maize, with increased tolerance to water stress, for feeding dairy cows.

The Asociación Frisona de Girona (AFRIGI), together with Agripurza SL, Grans de Lluçanès SL, Lechera de Campllong SCCL, Pirenaica SCCL as beneficiary members, and the Federación de Cooperativas Agrarias de Catalunya (FCAC), the Servicios de Mejora y Expansión Ganadera y Genética Aplicada (SEMEGA) de Vic said as non-beneficiary members; and with the participation of the Instituto de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentarias (IRTA), is working on the SORGOFAR Operational Group project.

Decreasing rainfall, low water availability through irrigation and increasing temperatures as a consequence of climate change are causing many dairy farms to look for alternative forages that show higher tolerance to water stress. One of the crops that may be of most interest in these scenarios is forage sorghum.

The main objective of the project is to evaluate forage sorghum and other water stress tolerant annual summer forages as an alternative to maize for feeding dairy cows. With this evaluation, it is expected to be able to recommend summer forages (in particular fodder sorghum) with yields and qualities close to those of maize and more resilient in situations of low water availability for dairy cattle farms.

Action of the PAC Strategic Plan 2023-2027 co-financed by: