USDA’s latest reports showed some positive numbers and trends for the sorghum industry.
Grain sorghum production in 2013 is estimated at 389 million bushels, up 58 percent from 2012. Planted area is estimated at 8.06 million acres, up 29 percent from last year. Area harvested for grain, at 6.53 million acres, is up 32 percent from 2012. The average grain yield, at 59.6 bushels per acre, is up 9.8 bushels from last year.
Overall, planted and harvested grain and silage acres increased in 11 out of 14 states reported.
Sorghum yields also increased in 10 out of 14 states reported. Kansas came in as the top producing state in the nation with 165.2 million bushels, harvesting 90 percent of its crop, which is the best harvest-to-plant ratio for the state since 2010. Texas (128.8 million bushels) came in second followed by South Dakota (22 million bushels), Oklahoma (14.9 million bushels) and Arkansas (12.8 million bushels).
The sorghum silage national yield increased for the second year in a row to 14.3 tons per acre — the industry’s highest yield since 2009. Sorghum silage was exceedingly competitive with corn silage in four states.
