It's good to be a sorghum grower

By Jennifer M. Latzke

It’s a good time to be a sorghum grower.

Tim Lust, chief executive officer for the National Sorghum Producers welcomed members to the NSP General Session Jan. 11. The past year saw record yields across the nation, and record prices. Ethanol and export demand for sorghum have combined to raise the basis.

“Breaking records is exciting because it restores hope that we’re making genetic improvements and it restores our faith that it can rain,” Lust said.

On the legislative side, the new energy bill that passed Congress didn’t have as many of the tax incentives that NSP originally thought would be a part of the bill, but it did classify sorghum as an advanced biofuel crop. This classification will move the industry forward, Lust said.

The farm bill is also important to sorghum producers, but Lust hesitated to make any predictions. “I could be wrong in 24 hours,” he said.

Another hot topic for sorghum producers is the proposed National Sorghum Checkoff, which has passed the comment period and is on to the next stage in approval. Lust explained that a national checkoff is critical for producers to meet the research needs for weed and grass control and other issues.

“It is critical to have producer dollars to leverage with private industry to move forward as an industry,” Lust said.
Membership for NSP has increased by 50 percent in one year, and could double again in 18 months. This bodes well for the industry and for programs at the national level, Lust said.

The NSP and U.S. Grains Council’s meetings continue through Feb. 13 here in San Antonio, Texas. For more on the NSP annual meeting, check back with www.hpj.com.