Sorghum grain can be used to replace corn in broiler diets. However, the effects related to an abrupt change between these grains are not yet clear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance and intestinal health of broilers fed diets containing corn and/or sorghum during different periods of rearing. To accomplish this aim, 2100 male chicks were fed the following experimental diets: C100% (corn-based diet); S100% (sorghum-based diet); C:S50% (diet based on corn and sorghum 1:1); PC-S (corn-based diet in the pre-starter phase and sorghum-based diet in subsequent phases); and PS-C (sorghum-based diet in the pre-starter phase and corn-based diet in subsequent phases). The study was conducted with two simultaneous trials in a randomized block design as follows: a performance trial up to 40 days occurred in floor pens (n = 8), and the metabolism trial occurred in cages (n = 10). Performance, jejunal morphometry, number of goblet cells, apparent metabolizable energy (AME), apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen (AMEn) and the coefficient of apparent metabolizability of dry matter (CMDM) of the diets, and the intestinal microbiota of small intestine and caeca at 10 and 21 days of age (16S gene sequencing) were evaluated. The different experimental diets did not affect performance, jejunal epithelium, AME, AMEn or CMDM. However, the experimental diets altered the percentages of the genera Clostridium, Weissella, Bacillus and Alkaliphilus in the small intestine. In addition, the genera Lactobacillus and Desulfotomaculum in the caeca were altered. The age also affected the microbiota of the intestinal segments. In conclusion, feeding sorghum in place of corn as well as the grain change after the pre-starter phase does not alter broiler performance. However, sorghum alters the intestinal microbiota, resulting in a lower percentage of Clostridium and a higher percentage of Lactobacillus in the small intestine and caeca, respectively.

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield in dryland areas is optimized by the improvement of genetics in combination with optimum production practices. Different combinations of seeding rate and row spacing can influence the development of wheat plants, impacting wheat yield and its components. To determine the influence of these practices, yield components, water use efficiency, biomass, and subsequent grain yield were evaluated in an experiment conducted at the High Plains Agricultural Laboratory (HPAL), Sidney, NE, from 2019 until 2022, using a split‐plot randomized complete block design with four replications. Treatments consisted of four different row spacings (19, 25, 31, and 51 cm), three seeding rates (1.05, 2.1, and 3.1 million seeds ha −1), and two high performing winter wheat varieties—‘Ruth’ and ‘Robidoux.’ Row spacing showed differences in wheat yield (P < .0001) across all years, with a significant effect of seeding rate only in one year and an interaction effect of the three factors in 2022 alone. Higher wheat yield was achieved with the two narrower row spacings (19 and 25 cm) compared to the wider row spacings of 38 and 51 cm. The treatment combining the 19 cm row spacing and either 2.1 or 3.1 million seed ha−1 seeding rate had the greatest yields in most years. Narrower row spacings had improved water use efficiency in drier years as compared to wider row spacings.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved