Species information
Ruminants
The giant setaria is highly palatable to all classes of livestock and is mainly used as forage. It may be grazed or used in a cut-and-carry system. It can withstand heavy and continuous grazing, up to 6 steers/ha in subtropical Australia, if adequate fertilizer is applied. It can also be used for hay or silage (Cook et al., 2005).
The giant setaria can support around 820 kg body weight gain in steers/ha/year even at high stocking rates (in Queensland, 4-6 steers/ha or 7 steers/ha during spring and summer, then 3-5 steers/ha before winter) (Evans et al., 1992; Jones et al., 1989). A 50:50 leucaena/setaria-based diet was supplemented with 100 g molasses/kg diet and resulted in a higher live-weight gain in young bulls (Huque et al., 1995).