Sorghum Production
Sorghum has lower variable input costs—costs directly associated with the crop such as seed, fertilizer, etc.—than many other crops.
Sorghum has many advantages, including its ability to be grown on marginal soils, its shorter growing season, excellent use as a rotational crop and its low water use requirements.
The lower variable cost of sorghum can help spread risk by allowing production of another crop at lower cost and also allowing a producer to spread limited capital across more acres.
In the following graphs, please notice variable costs of cotton and corn compared to sorghum, production costs of sorghum from several producers who have been surveyed and breakdown of the variable expenses associated with growing sorghum.
According to data collected by National Sorghum Producers, sorghum variable costs are at least 20 percent less than other major grain crops.
Production costs of sorghum, including lower input costs, help make sorghum a profitable crop.
Whereas other crops require close to 12 inches of water to produce their first bushel, sorghum requires only 4. Sorghum has adapted to semi-arid regions of the world and has been recognized as being drought tolerant compared with other major grain crops.
Sorghum is well suited for dry conditions, areas with uneven rainfall distribution, and high year to year variation in rainfall and water supplies.