Producer Profile: Greg Methvin, Hockley County, Texas

For years the local cooperative elevator has been the main avenue for sorghum producers to market their grain. Greg Methvin, a sorghum farmer in Hockley County, Texas still believes that his co-op is the best option for him.

The unique thing about this area is that the Farmers Co-op Elevator and the Levelland Hockley County Ethanol Plant work together to make sure the South Plains never runs short on sorghum-based ethanol.

“It’s a good relationship for both the ethanol plant and the elevator,” said Methvin, who has been farming in Hockley County for 30 years. “They both respect the elevator’s place as a marketer. The elevator doesn’t have to maintain the grain and the ethanol plant has plenty of sorghum when they need it. Both the elevator and the ethanol plant have a winning situation.”

The elevator buys grain and ships it directly to the ethanol plant. This way the elevator is not taking up storage and they don’t have to maintain the quality of the sorghum while it’s there. The ethanol plant processes 30,000 to 45,000 bushels a day, so it has helped develop a market for sorghum that wasn’t available on the South Plains before.

“I’ve been a cotton farmer for 30 years,” Methvin said. “We farmed cotton all those years because there wasn’t a market for sorghum. Having the ethanol plant creates steady demand for sorghum and allows us to rotate it in with cotton as a management tool. “

Methvin, who worked sorghum into his rotation as a soil management technique, says sorghum is a valuable tool in his farming method. He has perfected his rotation methods and won the National Sorghum Producers “Bin Buster Award” for the highest yield in the nation in 2009.

“I can make the same number of bales of cotton on a third less acres and then make up for those with milo, all while conserving water,” said Methvin. “The ethanol plant provides that market for sorghum. We’ve really increased yields and I know that this rotation works. Not just in theory, but I’ve proven that it will work.”

The most important part of the partnership is that the plant and elevator work together. The elevator wants to supply the plant with local grain and has seen a significant profit increase since the establishment of the ethanol plant in 2008. During years when the ethanol plant can’t store anymore grain, the elevator works with them to store some of their surplus.

“We still work on ways to make the partnership more efficient,” Methvin said. “As a farmer, it is in my best interest to have the elevator and the ethanol plant. I need an end user like that in my area and it helps the ethanol plant to have a marketer like the elevator to bring in more grain.”