Regional Production Guides

Researchers and innovative farmers have been finding the best ways to grow sorghum for decades, but there is a wide gap between what is most profitable and what is being routinely used in fields. Regional production guides that compile the best practices for growing the crop are on their way.

Using checkoff funds, agronomists in nine distinct growing regions are compiling the best production practices into handbooks that should fit in your hip pocket or ride in your pickup’s glove box, designed as reference tools for producers to carry and use throughout the year. This is Phase One of the checkoff-sponsored research.

“People with a lot of extension experience are putting together these manuals to help sorghum producers be more profitable,” notes Jeff Dahlberg, research director with the United Sorghum Checkoff Program. “That was our first goal out of the chute.”

Scientists are now compiling these guides, which should be ready for distribution to sorghum producers before planting in 2010. The books will also be posted on the Internet, where they can be updated with new research findings that keep them up-to-date and relevant.

Relatively new regions, as well as traditional growing areas, will be aided by the books.

“We’ve had interest from people wanting to grow sorghum in places that aren’t considered the Sorghum Belt,” Dahlberg says. “Growers in California, Arizona, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky are looking at sorghum as an important rotational crop in their farming system.”