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Sorghum yields break national recordsSorghum farmers harvested record grain sorghum crops last year, breaking all previous bushel per acre records. "Sorghum yields shattered all records this year," said Dale Murden, president of the National Sorghum Producers Board of Directors. "I have never seen yields this good." According to USDA's 2007 Crop Production Summary, sorghum yielded an average of 74.2 bushels per acre this season, breaking the all-time yield record of 72.7 bushels per acre, set in 1994. Last year's average yield was 56.2 bushels per acre. In addition to record yields, sorghum acreage also increased dramatically. Sorghum producers planted 7.7 million acres of sorghum this year compared to 6.5 million acres last year. "2007 was a banner year for sorghum, and could have been even better if the Gulf Coast of Texas hadn't experienced so much damage," said Murden, who grows 5,000 acres of grain sorghum in South Texas. "The Gulf Coast, which typically produces a very large sorghum crop, was slammed with too much rain right before harvest in late summer. We lost what could have been a great crop to water damage." Even so, sorghum's excellent yields this year have benefited more than just U.S. sorghum growers. Export markets overseas have flocked to import more U.S. sorghum than in recent memory because grain crops elsewhere in the world suffered last year. Additionally, new ethanol markets have demanded more and more sorghum, as ethanol plants are built to accommodate both sorghum and corn in their fuel production operations. The National Sorghum Producers represents U.S. sorghum producers. Headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, in the heart of the U.S. Sorghum Belt that stretches from the Rockies to the Mississippi River and from South Texas to South Dakota, the organization works to ensure the profitability of sorghum production through market development, research, education and legislative representation. 3/17/08 Date: 3/6/08
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