Agricultural News
Sorghum Gaining Steam Among Ethanol Producers, Consumers Says James Wuerflein
Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:40:19 CST
Farmers in the Southern Great Plains concerned that the drought may continue have been leaning more and more in the direction of sorghum.
That's an encouraging development says James Wuerflein, a sorghum producer from Kremlin, Oklahoma. Wuerflein has been right in the thick of things in the sorghum world for several years as a member of the Oklahoma Sorghum Commission. He was recently selected as a member of the United Sorghum Checkoff board of directors and participated in several meetings during the Commodity Classic in Kissimmee, Florida. He spoke with Radio Oklahoma Network's Farm Director Ron Hays about the projects being funded with Sorghum Checkoff dollars.
"We've got many new things coming down the pike. There have been over 44 new variety lines released through the ARS station in Lubbock, Texas. We've been funding that research and we voted yesterday to continue more research there. There are other projects with the ethanol industry that over half of the crop goes to. We've put on Sorghum University for over 400 producers in Lubbock, Texas, Dodge City, Kansas, and in Nebraska. We've also sponsored the Sorghum Leaderships class which is 15 producers to groom them into taking leadership positions in the sorghum industry."
Wuerflein said there are several particular traits that researchers are exploring with checkoff money. Some of them include: greatly increased yields, standability, some varieties that will die when they get mature so that producers don't have to worry about dry down.
Another exciting development, he said, is the fact that the EPA recently designated sorghum as a stock for advanced biofuels. Ethanol is a part of the marketplace for grain sorghum. He said the EPA designation has enhanced sorghum's desirability among ethanol producers due to its drought resistance. In sourcing stocks for their plants, ethanol producers see sorghum as a more-reliable alternative.
For consumers, Wuerflein says, sorghum has recently gained visibility as well. He said consumers concerned about gluten are looking toward sorghum as an alternative to gluten-heavy foods.
In addition, sorghum has prided itself for avoiding GMOs and they use that as a marketing advantage to consumers.
"For a number of years we've stayed away from the GMOs and that gives us a leg into some other markets around the world along with the food status. Even the ethanol plants are liking the non-GMO status of our crop that they can use it in their marketing also."
Looking ahead to the future, Wuerflein says, producers are adding sorghum acres. He said seed supplies are already tight and producers considering sorghum need to get their seed booked soon.
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