The 24th annual Commodity Classic conference was held this year in sunny Orlando, Florida. The event presented by National Sorghum Producers, National Corn Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, American Soybean Association and Association of Equipment Manufacturers was held Feb. 28-March 2, 2019.

In total, there were 4,503 producers registered with 9,182 total attendees. This was the second-largest number of producers and third-largest number of total people registered in the 24-year history of Commodity Classic.

During the event, NSP hosted its annual board of directors meeting, participated in the general session and hosted the annual Yield Contest Award Gala and the Sorghum PAC Casino Night. NSP staff and board members also worked the trade show booth, interacting with visitors and answering their questions about sorghum.

General Session

The Classic general session took place on Friday morning, kicking off with a panel discussion with leaders of the host organizations. Facilitated by session host Mark Mayfield, the conversation primarily centered around trade issues, USMCA and Chinese tariffs experienced by U.S. commodities. NSP Board Chairman, Dan Atkission, spoke to the resiliency of sorghum farmers and the support the industry has received in the past year.

Yield Contest Gala

This year’s yield contest gala was sponsored by Pioneer. Emceed by Mark Mayfield, the program recognized the state and national winners of the 2018 yield contest (winners featured on page 18).

In addition to this year’s winners, Ki Gamble was inducted into the yield contest hall of fame in the conventional-till irrigated division.

Trade Show

The trade show is an annual crowd pleaser with over 400 booths. At the NSP booth, visitors engaged with staff and board members regarding the value NSP provides farmers.

An interactive map charted the locations of booth visitors who ranged from Canada to South Texas and everywhere in between. Milo vodka samples from Ornery Brother Distillery were also distributed, highlighting a sorghum product from Kansas, the largest sorghum-producing state.

Next Year

Join us in San Antonio Feb. 27-29, 2020, to take part in the 25th Commodity Classic conference! More information can be found at CommodityClassic.com.

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This story originally appeared in the Spring 2019 Issue of Sorghum Grower magazine in the NSP Update department.