Water Consumuption of corn

• According to a study conducted at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, two tools were used to quantify crop water usage between two farmers respectively growing corn and sorghum. The results of the study were that corn used more water, measured at 10.20 inches. This is considered to be a significant finding and other studies have reported similar trends.
  
  

Water consumption of sorghum grain

• In the same study sponsored by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, it was found that sorghum used 7.07 inches of water for its production, showing that there is a significant difference between the water usage compared with corn. In fact, sorghum has been identified as being a more efficient crop than corn in many different respects, including cost, water and fertilizer usage and yield.
  
  

Comparison

• If compared on a pound for pound ratio, sorghum trumps corn in production cost efficiencies, thus providing savings to producers. Specifically, this is attributed to the fact that sorghum needs 30 to 50 percent less water than corn. Moreover, sorghum is more water-use efficient, meaning that it produces twice the biomass of corn on the same amount of water. According to the California Cooperative Extension budget, the production input cost for corn was $751 per acre compared to sorghum at $380 per acre.
  
  

Geography

• Where corn and sorghum are being grown, as well as micro climate considerations, significantly impact crop production yields. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln study found that high rainfall has an array of effects on both crops, including increased disease presence and burning of the crops when nitrogen levels were elevated. Moreover, sorghum is generally regarded as being a more hearty, drought-resistant crop than corn, meaning that it can have higher yields in arid regions.
  
  

Considerations

• Although many studies show that sorghum requires less water usage as compared to corn, it is important to understand other factors affecting this occurrence. For example, the fact that sorghum is generally planted later than corn and yields in less time initially explains why it consumes less water. However, sorghum has been recognized as being highly adaptive, highly productive and successful in both irrigated and dryland farming operations.