Visit
sorghum.
checkoff.com/
press-releases
for industry news
BRINGING
SORGHUM
INTO THE FUTURE
E
By Wayne Cleveland
ntering into its seventh year of
existence, the United Sorghum
Checkoff Program (USCP) has
gained momentum as a market driving
force, an innovation lab for producer profitability and an example of how “helpings oneself ” or endearing a selfhelp commodity checkoff program can save an industry.
When the USCP was implemented in 2007, the sorghum industry
was at the bottom — literally. Acres had drifted from a high of 16
million in the United States to a low of 5.5 million. The acre loss was a
clear reflection of a decrease in profitability on the producer side and
a waning market for what was considered an inferior product as compared to other starch sources on the buyer side. Sorghum was quickly
becoming a niche market, only finding refuge in end-users that could
purchase at 80 percent the value of corn. To further exacerbate the
problem, yield was stagnant, and this was the final blow in a series of
events. The old saying, “corn sells itself, sorghum has to be sold every
day,” was very applicable. Sorghum was neither being “sold” into markets nor preferred by buyers. At the time, the sorghum industry had
been reduced to being funded on less than $1 million, which included
research, promotion, education and legislation. As a result, the industry had a total of five employees. Other commodities enjoyed much
larger budgets and well-staffed offices.
The board of directors at National Sorghum Producers (NSP) and
Texas Grain Sorghum Producers (Keith Bram and AJ Kresta, both of
El Campo, are board members) realized the dilemma sorghum was in
and, over a period of several years, developed a plan to take advantage
of the 1996 Generic Research and Promotion Program, which allows
commodities to start self-help checkoff programs to benefit producers
of that commodity. With a resounding yes — 82 percent of producers
of grain sorghum in Texas said they would invest in such a program
— came the birth of the USCP and advent of the rate of six-tenths of
Checkoff
increases
production,
marketability
one percent of the value that all
producers pay when they sell their
grain sorghum. The board insisted
that the rate be attached to the price of
the grain so that when producers had a
good year the checkoff had a good year
and vice-versa.
As predicted, sorghum acres have
increased on an annual basis. New markets
have been developed such as in China, where
an incredible 75 percent of all grain sorghum produced in the United
States finds a home at a premium basis and where serious gains have
been made to increase productivity and profitability. Additionally,
grain sorghum now enjoys a market presence in the human food
consumption industry, which is primed for a product like sorghum,
which is gluten free and provides a high level of anti-oxidants.
If acres are a result of the checkoffs’ past actions, then the stories
that are posted at sorghumcheckoff.com/press-releases/ are a clear
indicator of where the industry is headed. A few instances include:
Sorghum Exports Reach 300 Million Bushels; Checkoff Invest $3.65
Million to Further Producer Profitability; Sorghum U Teaches Producers; Sorghum’s Five Year Genetic Program; Leadership Sorghum Class
Announced; and more. In addition, USCP has made major advances
in promulgating a recessive gene that enables grain sorghum to
produce up to double its current capacity by maintaining all three
spikelets just prior to the blooming stage. The USCP has also been
critical to the movement and adaptation of non-GMO, over-the-top
herbicide resistant strains that will bring sorghum into the realm of
21st century farming.
Although many advances have been made in a relatively short
period of time, USCP remains committed to making grain sorghum
a profitable crop that both growers want to grow— and make a tidy
profit—and end users want to use as it increases their productivity.
15