South Texas Market Development Activities

During the  week of March 21-25, Sorghum Checkoff representatives Sue Ann Claudon and Florentino Lopez visited companies in the South Texas area to learn about their sorghum handling and use.  The goal of these visits was to identify poultry companies and obtain opinions about importing and exporting sorghum and how it will be used in the future.

The trip began in Gonzales, Texas, at Buddy’s Natural Chicken. Owner David Lindeman educated Sue Ann and Florentino about the use of sorghum in his broiler operation. Buddy’s Natural Chicken processes about 3.5 million birds in the operation per year and requires approximately 6,000 acres of sorghum to feed these birds in that year-long period. Lideman has found that feeding sorghum in his operation produces the same results as other grains.

The duo also visited Farmers Coop of El Campo, Texas, where they learned the elevator is searching for more opportunities to move grain into Mexico to be used in ethanol plants.

“This is a great opportunity for sorghum producers in South Texas,” Claudon said. “If we can export grain sorghum into Mexico for ethanol production, increased demand for sorghum will continue based on the demand for ethanol producing crops. This will allow farmers the opportunity to receive higher premiums for their sorghum.”

Williacy Coop in Raymondville, Texas, and Garcia Grain in Donna, Texas, were the next stops. WIlliacy Coop reported they handle approximately 6 million bushels of sorghum annually. Garcia Grain is currently buying sorghum from six locations across the Rio Grande Valley and exporting their grain to cattle, chicken and swine producers in Mexico.

Lastly, Lopez and Claudon visited with the management of Merco Grain in Progreso, Texas. Interest in exporting grain to Mexico is building and the management is open to discussion with producers, northern elevators, and any others interested in this export. Merco Grain shipped 4 million bushels of sorghum to Mexico using trucks. There is also a Merco location in Mexico called Merco Grain Noroeste, which handles approximately 20 million bushels of Mexican Grain yearly. Merco is continually looking for grain to be moved to this location in Mexico.

The Sorghum Checkoff is currently working on ways to help all of these facilities with the concerns that they face. The trip was successful in obtaining these concerns so that the checkoff can better help the producers and the handlers.