In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Grains Council’s new and improved, free grains and ethanol conversion calculator app helps customers and members quickly and conveniently convert grain data between English and metric units. The app – called the “USGC Conversion Calculator” – provides conversions for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products, including distiller’s dried grains […]
It’s been only two years since the Environmental Protection Agency approved sorghum oil as an eligible feedstock under the Renewable Fuel Standard, but a lot has happened since then. The EPA’s announcement marked a significant step toward leveling the playing field for ethanol plants extracting oil from sorghum and provides new market access for the […]
In Oklahoma, a recent $3.1 million grant awarded to Oklahoma State University to study greenhouse gas emissions is expected to help sorghum farmers save money and improve the industry’s sustainable field management practices. The three-state research project approved under the SMARTFARM program of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is headed […]
In Nebraska, a tiny invader’s gooey march through U.S. sorghum fields continues to devastate crop yields, forcing some farmers out of the sorghum business despite the crop’s increasing importance. A University of Nebraska–Lincoln entomologist is investigating ways to help sorghum naturally resist sugarcane aphids, the crop’s most damaging pest in the United States. Louis earned a […]
In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Grains Council reports that recent sales of U.S. sorghum to Spain and Italy reinforce the importance of these European markets to U.S. farmers. Italy purchased 36,600 metric tons (1.44 million bushels) of sorghum the week of March 14, and Spain has purchased just under one million tons (39.4 million bushels) […]
In Washington, D.C. U.S. Grains Council President and CEO Tom Sleight will retire this summer following the appointment of his successor. Sleight has worked with the Council for a total of 25 years. “I have done what I intended to accomplish, and as I move forward to this new phase of my own life, I […]
In Washington, D.C., new funding to the U.S. Grains Council from the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program – part of a larger “trade aid” package offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the wake of new tariffs and global market uncertainty – will expand the organization’s global footprint and dramatically increase the promotion effort it […]
In China, through careful genetic analysis of a large, diverse panel of sorghum varieties, scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered the gene controlling the stem juiciness trait in sorghum, as described in this month’s issue of the Plant Cell. The dry gene product appears to function as a master switch that controls the […]
Sorghum sights are set high with EPA approval and recent genetic improvements The next time they re-make the Wizard of Oz movie, you might just see sorghum growing in the fields along the yellow brick road, thanks to sorghum’s big win last week when the U.S. EPA opened up pathways for sorghum oil to become […]
In Washington, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final notice approving a variety of pathways for renewable fuel derived from sorghum, including biodiesel. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed the final pathway alongside Sens. Jerry Moran and Deb Fisher, Rep. Roger Marshall, the National Sorghum Producers, and the American Farm Bureau Federation. The newly approved […]
