Fall 2021 Articles

A Season of Change

Welcome to the 60th edition of Sorghum Grower magazine. It does not seem possible there have been that many issues, but what started as a new medium to reach sorghum farmers has turned into one of our strongest tools.

I hope you are all finished with a blessed harvest season. As we look ahead from both an industry and an organizational standpoint, there are some key changes continuing to take place. We greatly appreciate our members and advertisers who have helped us make Sorghum Grower magazine a successful tool for sharing information with our growers and industry.

Travel restrictions over the last year afforded us some well-used downtime, which allowed us to do survey work with our growers and our sponsors. National Sorghum Producers continues to strive to be data driven in our focus to take care of your needs. Input from that data clearly showed us it is time to make a couple of tweaks to how we deliver Sorghum Grower magazine and when we deliver it. Therefore, you will notice a special edition of Sorghum Grower coming to your mailboxes in January that is much more focused in its content. The Spring, Summer and Fall editions will continue on as normal.

NSP is not the only area experiencing change. On a different front, D.C. is all about climate-smart agriculture. Both on Capitol Hill, as Congress continues to debate infrastructure and reconciliation bills, and at USDA where they announced at the end of September several billion dollars of support for multiple areas.

USDA is really focusing on climate-smart agriculture programs, which should be a great fit for sorghum as we were using the term climate-smart crop long before it was cool in Washington, D.C. Our board and legislative committee continue to work hard to develop priorities that make sense for the Sorghum Belt as the government continues to move forward with these programs. Expect more announcements from USDA about climate-smart agriculture and forestry initiatives in the next few months.

In the Sorghum Belt, we see droughts and weather extremes on a regular basis, and the reason many of you plant sorghum is because of its value in a system where you have to manage risk and increase profits. It remains to be seen the exact details of the size and scope of government involvement in the climate arena, but it is definitely one of the most significant areas today. I personally believe that farmers will have some interesting choices to make in the next year as you decide which of these new programs fit your farming operations and which are better left for the neighbor down the road.

As always, it is an honor to continue to lead your trade association, and we continue to work daily to make sure we help provide you tools, information and support to continue to raise sorghum (or milo!) in a profitable manner.