Agricultural News
Kody Carson with National Sorghum Producers says it will be a Challenging Year for Agriculture
Mon, 02 May 2022 16:12:05 CDT
Farm Director, KC Sheperd visited with Kody Carson, Chairman of National Sorghum Producers in Washington D.C. this week about the latest in the sorghum industry.
"In the western part of Oklahoma, in the Texas Panhandle, we are seeing some early plantings going on," Carson said. "Of course, we have sorghum up in South Texas, but from South Texas to South Dakota, we are just dry."
Carson said people can talk about supply chains and fertilizer price issues, but if you don't have enough fertilizer to get a crop started, some of that is almost irrelevant.
"We are really struggling hard, but on the bright side, the more limited the moisture is, the better things look for sorghum, and we are lucky to have a good supply of seed and good markets this year," Carson said. "I think we are off to an extremely tough start because we don't even have deep soil moisture."
Carson said they are trying to be optimistic, but it is looking bleaker by the day.
"E15 is a big deal for our country," Carson said. "Having E15 year-round is saving is around 700 million barrels of oil a year, so that is reducing our dependence on foreign oil. If we can't supply enough right now at home, we need to make sure we have a reasonably prices fuel supply available to us."
E15 burns much cleaner than conventional gasoline, Carson said, and the administration is wanting to take a look at being climate-smart and more sustainable for the future, so it's a good fit and it's a renewable source we can grow at home.
Input costs have been a vertical move for producers, Carson said.
"A lot of my chemicals and fertilizers are 400% higher this year, and I am having to ration and be careful because there are a lot of things we just can't get," Carson said. Whether that is supply chain issues, labor issues, or freight issues, I don't know where the hold up is in exactly all of the nuances of what we are experiencing, but across the agricultural belt, it going to be a very trying year."
One good thing about sorghum, Carson said, is that producers do not need the nitrogen and phosphate supplies a crop like corn would.
"Nothing against corn, but it is just the nature of the beast," Carson said. "Sorghum fits very well where those supplies may be physically or financially limited."
We want to do the best we can for humanitarian aid, Carson said, and we want to help people in whatever way we can.
"I personally was a little disappointed to see that soybeans were called out as the secondary crop because there are so many other crops that fit that niche as well, sorghum being one of them," Carson said. "On the years we have moisture, I have double-cropped sorghum behind wheat, and it does exceptionally well."
Sorghum is the second most used food crop in food aid to Africa behind wheat, Carson said, so it's not like it's a novel product.
"We just want what's best for those people that are struggling and hurting," Carson said, "and I think we have a lot of food sources besides soybeans that would fit that."
To hear more from Kody Carson from National Sorghum Producers, click the LISTEN BAR below.
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