Pick up know-how for tackling diseases, pests and weeds.
Farm bill, farm marketing, agribusiness webinars, & farm policy.
Find tactics for healthy livestock and sound forages.
Scheduling and methods of irrigation.
Explore our Extension locations around the state.
Commercial row crop production in Arkansas.
Agriculture weed management resources.
Use virtual and real tools to improve critical calculations for farms and ranches.
Learn to ID forages and more.
Explore our research locations around the state.
Get the latest research results from our county agents.
Our programs include aquaculture, diagnostics, and energy conservation.
Keep our food, fiber and fuel supplies safe from disaster.
Private, Commercial & Non-commercial training and education.
Specialty crops including turfgrass, vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals.
Find educational resources and get youth engaged in agriculture.
Gaining garden smarts and sharing skills.
Creating beauty in and around the home.
Maintenance calendar, and best practices.
Coaxing the best produce from asparagus to zucchini.
What’s wrong with my plants? The clinic can help.
Featured trees, vines, shrubs and flowers.
Ask our experts plant, animal, or insect questions.
Enjoying the sweet fruits of your labor.
Herbs, native plants, & reference desk QA.
Growing together from youth to maturity.
Crapemyrtles, hydrangeas, hort glossary, and weed ID databases.
Get beekeeping, honey production, and class information.
Grow a pollinator-friendly garden.
Schedule these timely events on your gardening calendar.
Equipping individuals to lead organizations, communities, and regions.
Guiding communities and regions toward vibrant and sustainable futures.
Guiding entrepreneurs from concept to profit.
Position your business to compete for government contracts.
Find trends, opportunities and impacts.
Providing unbiased information to enable educated votes on critical issues.
Increase your knowledge of public issues & get involved.
Research-based connection to government and policy issues.
Support Arkansas local food initiatives.
Read about our efforts.
Preparing for and recovering from disasters.
Licensing for forestry and wildlife professionals.
Preserving water quality and quantity.
Cleaner air for healthier living.
Firewood & bioenergy resources.
Managing a complex forest ecosystem.
Read about nature across Arkansas and the U.S.
Learn to manage wildlife on your land.
Soil quality and its use here in Arkansas.
Learn to ID unwanted plant and animal visitors.
Timely updates from our specialists.
Eating right and staying healthy.
Ensuring safe meals.
Take charge of your well-being.
Cooking with Arkansas foods.
Making the most of your money.
Making sound choices for families and ourselves.
Nurturing our future.
Get tips for food, fitness, finance, and more!
Understanding aging and its effects.
Giving back to the community.
Managing safely when disaster strikes.
Listen to our latest episode!
Fast facts
(741 words)(Newsrooms: With file art at www.flickr.com/photos/uacescomm/6183361017Red/white sorghum: www.flickr.com/photos/uacescomm/5081287432Wide shot: www.flickr.com/photos/uacescomm/4818586213)
LITTLE ROCK – Grain sorghum is cultivating fans among Arkansas farmers as a tool in the battle against resistant pigweed, its ability to grow in non-irrigated fields and attractive commodity prices.
This type of sorghum, or milo as some people call it, is grown for its grain as opposed to sweet sorghum which is grown to make sorghum molasses.
“Many producers grew grain sorghum to help combat glyphosate-tolerant pigweeds,” said Jason Kelley, extension wheat and feed grains agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “Unlike other crops, growers are able to use the herbicide atrazine on sorghum, which, when used correctly, is very effective on pigweeds.”
Atrazine is labeled for use on both corn and grain sorghum in Arkansas.
Arkansans harvested 165,000 acres of grain sorghum in 2014. While that pales in comparison to the soybeans’ 3.2 million acres in Arkansas, grain sorghum was up about 40,000 acres from last year. The state average yield is estimated at 88 bushels per acre.
“Overall, producers were very happy with yields this year with the cooler-than-average summer and ample rainfall,” he said.
Kelley said an estimated “50 percent of sorghum for grain is grown on non-irrigated fields. Many of those non-irrigated fields are ones where corn may not be a good option.”
Sorghum prices were higher than corn throughout 2014, but dropped at harvest time.
“Like the other major crops, sorghum prices have collapsed this year,” said Scott Stiles, extension economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “Prices peaked in April and remained on a steady trend lower through September.”
In September, cash prices averaged $3.52 for delivery to the Mississippi River. On Dec. 10, prices had rebounded to near “$4.80 with a basis at some locations 85 cents above March corn futures.
“By the end of September, 84 percent of the state's sorghum had already been harvested,” Stiles said. “Without forward pricing, we likely sold the majority of this year's crop at seasonal lows.”
Basis, the numeric difference between a commodity’s cash price and its futures price, reached the strongest level of the year, thanks in part to export demand. “Sales to China this year are 79 percent higher than a year ago and export sales overall are 54 percent higher than last year,” Stiles said. Looking toward 2015“Many producers are looking to expand acreage in 2015,” Kelley said. “With prices equal to or greater than corn and with input costs that are significantly lower than corn, grain sorghum is a good fit … and more grain terminals are buying grain sorghum, which, in the past, has been a problem.”
Stiles said the pace of export sales may lead to future increases in the USDA's export estimate for the 2014-15 marketing year and ending stocks could tighten.
“New crop (2015) bids on the Mississippi River were near $4 for both corn and grain sorghum” on Dec. 10, he said. “As growers make plans for next year, they are taking a close look at sorghum and seeing the possibility of sorghum prices increasing through much of 2015.”
BuggedThere is one shadow in sorghum’s otherwise bright picture for 2015: the sugarcane aphid.
“It became a problem in grain sorghum in Arkansas for the first time in 2014 and is something growers will need to be watching for,” Kelley said.
The pest was previously known to feed on sugarcane in Texas and Louisiana, but in 2014 spread across sorghum plots throughout the Southeast, including Arkansas.
“We still have a lot to learn, but economical management is possible,” said Nick Seiter, extension entomologist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
Late-planted sorghum in 2014 was especially vulnerable in the pre-boot stage when growers usually don’t scout for pests, he said.
“Heavy aphid feeding before head formation can result in plant death and we saw this across entire fields in a few extreme cases,” Seiter said. ”Feeding during grain formation can also reduce yields, and losses at harvest are possible if the aphids are still present in the head.”
Chemical management can be problematic, he said.
“We received a Section 18 label exemption to use Transform in 2014, and we had pretty good results overall,” Seiter said. The situation for 2015 is still in flux, so growers should keep an ear open for updates.
Seiter said extension recommends a preliminary action threshold of 25 percent of plants infested with 50 or more aphids per leaf.
For more information about horticulture contact your county extension office or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.
The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
By Mary HightowerThe Cooperative Extension ServiceU of A System Division of Agriculture
Media Contact: Mary HightowerDirector-Communication ServicesU of A Division of AgricultureCooperative Extension Service(501) 671-2126 mhightower@uada.edu
Related Links