Grain sorghum is one of the most important dryland crops grown in the area stretching from Texas to South Dakota. It is a plant that looks a lot like corn but is shorter and more colorful. The head grows on the top of the plant and is white, yellow, red or bronze. Sorghum is sometimes referred to as milo.

Kansas leads the nation in the production of grain sorghum. Grain sorghum is used to feed livestock, in the production of ethanol and also for human consumption. Grain sorghum does not contain gluten, so sorghum food products play an important role in the diets of people who are gluten intolerant. Sorghum has also been used as wallboard in the housing industry. Recently, U.S. sorghum has seen increased usage in the production of biodegrabale packaging material.

What is grain sorghum?

livestock feed, ethanol, gluten-free flour, hay, silage, pasture, packing peanutsSorghum

Acre: a unit of land measure equal to 43,560 square feet (about the size of a football field).

Bushel: a unit of weight used to measure how much grain is harvested. One bushel of grain sorghum weighs about 56 pounds.

Commodity: something of value that you can buy, sell or trade. It is usually an unprocessed or partially processed good, such as fruits, vegetables, grains and livestock.

Flower: begins to open and pollinate after the panicle or grain head has emerged.

grain head: located at the top of the plant. It is a panicle with spikelets that are in pairs that holds the seeds.

Grain sorghum: a self-pollinating plant belonging to the grass family of plants that produces strong stalks with a single head of grain at the tip of each stalk.

Roots: a underground portion of a plant that draws nutrients and water from the soil, stores plant nutrients and anchors the plant.

seed: contains the embryo, which can grow into a new plant.stalk: used for support and contains the leaves of the plant.

USES

: GRAIN

VOCABULARY

Image and information provided by Dr. I.A. Ciampitti, KSUCROPS Lab, Dept. of Agronomy, K-State University. Ciampitti@ksu.edu; Twitter @KSUCROPS

The Grain Sorghum Plant

8,000 B.C. —Domestication of grain sorghum occurred in Northeastern Africa. The earliest record goes back to Nabta Palya during an archeological dig.

1757—The first record of grain sorghum in the U.S. was from Benjamin Franklin who wrote about using it to produce brooms.

Late 1700s — Grain sorghum plants spread into India, China and eventually Australia.

early 1900s — Kansas was the leader in grain sorghum research. The very first grain sorghum variety, Pink kafir, was developed at the Hays Experiment Station. It became the first variety sold to growers beginning in 1909 and was one of the most valuable grain

sorghum varieties for many years.

1920s— Researchers develop shorter plants that could be harvested by combines, rather than by the earlier labor-intensive techniques of cutting, bundling into shocks and threshing or feeding later.

1950s— A majority of the sweet sorghum grown in the U.S. was grown for forage purposes (livestock feed).

2012— Kansas led the nation in the number of acres of grain sorghum harvested.

Kansas ranks as the number one grain sorghum producing state, harvesting 50% of the entire U.S. production.

Other major sorghum growing states are Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Arkansas. These states are part of the “Sorghum Belt,” which runs from South Dakota to Southern Texas. The U.S. is the top exporter of grain sorghum, accounting for almost 75% of the global trade. Sorghum is shipped to Asia, Africa, Central and South America and Europe. In Kansas, grain sorghum is planted in May or early June and harvested in the fall between September and November. Each stalk produces a single head with 1,000 to 4,000 seeds per head.

Grain Sorghum Timeline

United States grain Sorghum Production

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Social Studies & Writing at Home

1. Use an online search engine or library references to find countries where sorghum is the primary food for humans.

2. Locate and use map pins to mark the countries on a large world map or color the countries in on a smaller world map.

3. Write a paper on the advantages of making biofuel from grain sorghum vs. making it from corn. Share your findings with your classmates or family!

Grain sorghum is native to Africa.

Liberal, Kansas was known as the largest sorghumbroomcorn market in the U.S. in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Kansas produces 50% of the total U.S. grainsorghum crop.

About 15,000-30,000 seeds equal one pound ofgrain sorghum.

Plant leaf structure

Benefits of the sorghum plant

The leaf of a sorghum plant aids in its ability to be a drought and heat-tolerant crop. Grain sorghum leaves hold moisture in dry climates. The smaller leaf pores and waxy coat reduce the sorghum leaf’s water loss through transpiration. Under drought conditions the plant becomes dormant and will curl up its leaves to reduce water loss.

Sorghum plays an important role in the lives of millions of people throughout the world through its ability to produce high yields in drough situations.

Known as a high-energy, heat and drought-tolerant crop that thrives in arid conditions.

Fibrous root system increases its ability to mine water, making it a natural water conserver.

Sorghum leaves have ability to reduce water loss with waxy coat and smaller pores.

SorghumGrainSorghum only requires 6 inches of water to produce its first bushel and can produce more grain per inch than other comparable crops.

Benefits

GrainSorghumPlant

Cuticle: Impermeable layer; protects against water loss, fungus and bacteria

Palisade layer: Chloroplasts are lined up to facilitate the capture of light

Vein: Provides support and transports water, minerals and nutrients through leaf

Spongy layer: Large intracellular spaces for the exchange of CO2 and oxygen

Stomata: Small openings on the underside of the leaf

Smaller leaf pores reduce sorghum’s leaf water loss Dormancy traits

allow sorghum to tolerate stressful conditions

Waxy leaves hold in moisture during dry conditions

The DNA composition of sorghum attributes to beneficial qualiti-ties such as stay green, drought and heat tolerance

Sorghum’s fibrous root

system increase its ability to mine water

Photo Credit: Sorghum Checkoff

grain sorghum Use in the United States

Spotlight on Careers:sorghum breeder — A Sorghum Breeder works on developing breeding strategies for the crop. They run efficient operations using the developed breeding strate-gies. These breeders incorporate desired traits into new products. They ensure that quality and efficient operations are being done. Sorghum breeders develop and identify new and improved sorghum hybrids. Agricultural Engineer — An Ag Engineer works with technology and engineering science and applies it to agricultural production and processing. Ag Engineers work on everything from irrigation and drainage to consulting and manufacturing agricultural machinery and equipment, processing technology and structures for storing crops.

sorghumgrainsoil & crop scientist, sorghum farmer, marketing, sorghum entomologist, sales ca

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In the livestock market, sorghum is used in the poultry, beef and pork industries. Stems and foliage are used for green chop, hay, silage and pasture.

In the United States, South America and Australia, grain sorghum has traditionally been used for livestock feed and in a growing number of ethanol plants. Sorghum produces the same amount of ethanol per bushel as comparable feedstocks and uses one third less water.

A significant amount of U.S. sorghum is also exported to international markets where it is used for animal feed, ethanol and other uses. In recent years, sorghum’s use in the ethanol market has seen tremendous growth, with 30% of domestic sorghum typically going to ethanol production.

Grain sorghum continues to gain popularity in U.S. food products because of its gluten-free and non-GMO proper-ties. Sorghum is an excellent substitute for wheat, rye and barley. It can also be steamed or popped and is consumed as a vegetable in some areas of the world.

Sorghum is also used for building material, fencing, floral arrangements, pet food and brooms.

In the U.S., sorghum is primarily as a feed grain for livestock. The grain is typically rolled or cracked to increase digestibility for the cattle.