MDA Home : Ag Business Development Resources

Ag Business Development

Missouri Department of Agriculture
Ag Business Development Division
P.O. Box 630
1616 Missouri Blvd.
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Toll-Free Number:
(866) 466-8283
abd@mda.mo.gov
www.mda.mo.gov

Ag Business Development

Sorghum

Adapted from Value Enhanced Grains, U.S. Grains Council.

There are three major categories of sorghum: traditional sorghum for export, traditional sorghum for interior elevators and produce, and white sorghum:

Traditional Sorghum for export includes yellow, red and white varieties. The primary use for export sorghum is for feed, especially for poultry, swine and dairy. Dairy fed on sorghum receives more protein and less butterfat than when fed on other types of feed. Grain sorghums are a basic human foodstuff in India and parts of Africa.

Traditional Sorghum for interior elevator and produce: Bushel weight and nutritional values are the same as corn (corn has a slightly higher fat content). The primary use for interior elevator and producer variety of sorghum is primarily for poultry, swine and dairy feed. Ethanol can also be derived from this variety of sorghum.

White Sorghum is the main type of value-enhanced sorghum product currently available. It is a food grade product found in flour, tortillas, chips, popped variety (caramel covered), and is used mostly to either blend with wheat or as a substitute for wheat flour for those allergic to the gluten found in wheat. Baking characteristics are the same as wheat, although it has no flavor of its own. Sorghum’s anti-oxidant benefits are currently being studied.

Food sorghums have been developed by private and public agencies and are grown more extensively in areas of the sorghum belt, especially in Texas. The preferred food type hybrids are white with tan plant color and light colored glumes. Food sorghums have significantly improved processing properties and produce a light colored flour with a bland flavor that can be used in foods, companion animal foods and feeds for livestock.

Sorghum has not been genetically modified using recombinant DNA so it is non-GMO and has been certified as such by FGIS-GIPSA. Not all white sorghums have acceptable food qualities. White kernels with red or purple plant color are not acceptable for food when grown under moist, humid conditions that facilitates movement of the anthocyanin pigments into the endosperm which causes off color milled products. Improved food type hybrids with greater adaptation are being developed by commercial seed companies. Significant quantities are available at present. Production of food types will continue to increase in the future. However, it is important to understand that the white sorghums are not always segregated from red sorghums as they are stored after harvest until producers decide to sell. White sorghums are often sold to feeders. If a company wants to obtain a supply of food sorghum, forward contracting is highly desirable and usually necessary.

Future Directions:
The value enhanced sector is an attractive option. Availability of contracts to growers may be a limiting factor. With official reassurances that sorghum is a non-GMO product, exports should not be hindered by any foreign regulations or tariffs. The entire sorghum crop could be viewed as a value enhanced crop since it is non-GMO. Some ethanol facilities utilize sorghum as a major input.

Resources:

Associations and Organizations:

Examples of Sorghum Value-Added Ventures: