WASHINGTON, DC, US — Sorghum in the United States was, on the whole, graded above necessary requirements for U.S. No. 1 for the third year in a row in the just-published US Grains Council (USGC) 2021/2022 Sorghum Quality Report.

Protein content in sorghum was up 8% year over year, with readings coming in at 11.3%, up slightly from last year’s crop.

“Protein content in sorghum is very valuable when evaluating sorghum against other feed grains,” said Paige Stevenson, USGC manager of global trade. “In a market environment where protein demand is high, every percentage point counts in animal diets.”

The report, funded through the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA’s FAS) Agricultural Trade Promotion (ATP) program, provides international customers and other interested parties accurate, unbiased information about the 2021 US sorghum crop.

The USGC develops export markets for US barley, corn, sorghum and related products including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol.

Total sorghum damage came in at 0.0% in the aggregate, and broken kernel and foreign material (BNFM) was only 1.5%, both similar to last year’s results, highlighting how hard the grain is and how well it holds up during handling and storage.

For the second year in a row, 100% of the samples tested undetectable for tannins, which at high levels can interfere with nutrient absorption by livestock. US producers grow a non-tannin red sorghum variety.

This report is the third one completed since the 2016-17 sorghum crop. The USGC plans to roll out the information through webinar distribution around the world.