A Comparison of Feebar Barley, Norghum Sorghum, and Yellow Corn for Growing and Fattening Pigs

The Agronomy Department of South Dakota State College has developed and released several new varieties of crops in the last few years. Two of these, Feebar barley released in 1947 and Norghum sorghum released in 1949, are being grown rather extensively by grain and livestock produces in South Dakota. As a result , numerous inquiries have been received by the Animal Husbandry Department concerning the relative feed volume of these two crops. Because of this desired information , it seemed necessary to compare Feebar barley and Norghum sorghum with a standard yellow corn ration for growing and fattening pigs. Norghum, as its name implies, is a “sorghum of the North.” It is an early maturing grain sorghum developed to meet the climatic and growing conditions of South Dakota and to replace the southern grown varieties that were not well adapted to this area. This sorghum originated in 1939 at the South Dakota Experiment Station f5rom a cross of Dwarf kafir, is the result of a Pink kafir, and Dwarf Yellow milo cross. Feebar barley’s qualities are high yield, resistance to stem rust, and high protein content. This barley was developed from a cross of Postland and Vaughn by S.P. Swenson in 1936 at the South Dakota Experiment Station