Over 300,000 grain sorghum acres in Arkansas?

There was plenty of chatter at winter meetings regarding the expected boom in Mid-South grain sorghum acreage. As planting draws closer, the chatter has only intensified.

“Right now, grain sorghum seed sales across the Delta are three times what they were at this time last year,” says William Johnson, DuPont/Pioneer technical product manager. “Most of the sales are in counties right along the Mississippi River. Sales are strongest in eastern Arkansas and northern Mississippi. In Arkansas, that includes the counties of Mississippi, Crittenden, St. Francis, Phillips, and Lee.”

Johnson, based in Arkansas, says there has been talk that grain sorghum could be the third or fourth largest crop, volume-wise, planted in the state. “That’s amazing to think about. Back in 1983, Arkansas had a million acres of grain sorghum. I’m told that was due to a farm bill program as well as the fact that we were coming off a major drought and sorghum is our most drought-tolerant crop. (See Grain sorghum in the Mid-South on the upswing?)

“Currently, some of the elevators along the river are offering 60 to 70 cents over corn priced for December delivery. But you can deliver grain sorghum in September or October. That means prices are approaching $4.60 to $4.70 for a bushel of sorghum.”

Pencil it out. “We’ve had a lot of 100- to 150-bushel per acre dryland. Irrigated, we’ve seen 150-plus bushels. Run that through the budgets and grain sorghum actually shows the highest returns at current prices.”

Any concerns about putting in so many grain sorghum acres at once? “I spoke with Gus Lorenz, (Arkansas Extension entomologist), a couple of days ago. There is a lot of concern and people talking about the sugarcane aphid and it costs more than $30 per acre to control. In a general sense, Gus said that just isn’t the case.”