Morning Ag Clips logo
  • Subscribe ❯
  • PORTAL ❯
  • LOGIN ❯
  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe to our
    daily email
    ❯
  • Portal Registration❯
  • Login❯
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Morning Ag Clips

  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
Home » Texas sorghum has good prices, needs rain
sorghum natural disasters water issues climate issues
CROP OUTLOOK ...

Texas sorghum has good prices, needs rain

Ronnie Schnell, Ph.D.: Sorghum producers could be in for a good year with timely rains

PUBLISHED ON April 29, 2021

Sorghum harvest during a previous season. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Ronnie Schnell)

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Sorghum acres are expected to be up this year as prices and increased export demand have made the crop a hot commodity, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert.

Ronnie Schnell, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomist, Bryan-College Station, said sorghum producers could be in for a good year with timely rains.

Schnell said about half of the state’s sorghum is planted at this point. Plantings in the Rio Grande Valley were at boot stage if not flowering already and areas along the Gulf Coast and Central Texas were progressing well.

A few acres in the Rio Grande Valley were affected by the February winter storm, but weather conditions are allowing planting to remain on schedule for the rest of the state and provide good stands, he said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported the final tally of sorghum acres in 2020 was 1.8 million acres, and Schnell expects increased acreage this year due to good prices.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we were over 2 million acres of sorghum this year,” he said. “Prices have been better than corn in some areas, and now producers need favorable weather to capitalize on those prices.”

Sorghum off to good start

With good market conditions in place, weather will continue to be the question mark for much of the state, Schnell said. Sorghum tolerates heat and drier conditions better than other row crops, but water is necessary to produce good yields.

Most of the areas north of South Texas from the Upper Gulf Coast throughout the Blacklands have relatively good subsoil moisture indexes, but the soil surface is drying quickly. Areas still yet to plant sorghum, including the High Plains, are reporting short to very short soil moisture levels.

Schnell said storm systems delivered scattered rainfall recently, but the variation between the haves and have-nots was notable.

“Fields are off to a good start from the Valley to North Central Texas, but we need rain to keep fields progressing well,” he said. “The majority of the state is under some level of drought condition, and while scattered rains have helped some, we need more rain-making systems to move through the state and cover a broader area.”

Few issues beyond drought

Schnell said there have been very few problems with sorghum so far this growing season. Rains would help producers who have or will be making fertilizer applications soon, and dry conditions may make herbicide activation inconsistent, but disease and pest infestations have been light in South and Central Texas.

Seed companies have produced several sugarcane aphid-tolerant varieties that have helped curb their impact on sorghum yields, Schnell said. Monitoring the pests numbers and acting on good science-based recommendations to address infestations has also helped reduce their impact.

This year, herbicide-tolerant sorghum hybrids have been introduced to limited acres with more becoming commercially available soon, he said. Farmers will be able to broadcast apply herbicides over the top of sorghum for post-emerge grass control.

“All these hybrids were produced using traditional breeding methods and are non-GMO,” he said. “They’re just another set of tools farmers can use to manage weeds and protect yields.”

—Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

For more articles out of Texas, click here.

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

Texas A&M AgriLife announces official move of facilities from Amarillo to Canyon
May 30, 2022

CANYON, Texas — The Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center of Amarillo will move to Canyon to complete an agricultural research, education and outreach powerhouse on the West Texas A&M University campus. Funding for the new, $30 million center was approved May 19 by The Texas A&M University Board of Regents. Of that total, $20 […]

Meeting grape producers in the vineyard
April 21, 2022

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas High Plains is home to 80% of the grapes that fuel a burgeoning Texas wine industry. But the High Plains is also home to some formidable obstacles to grape growing, which is why Texas A&M AgriLife has focused research initiatives to help growers find solutions. The viticulture and enology programs […]

Sorghum acres down, input costs up as drought holds
April 20, 2022

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas sorghum acres were expected to decline slightly, but competitive prices, dry weather and input costs could direct some producers toward the crop, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert. The prospective acres report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated Texas producers would plant 1.7 million acres of sorghum, down from […]

Texas A&M AgriLife offers April online grain sorghum updates
April 12, 2021

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is partnering with the Texas Grain Sorghum Association to provide two series of regional updates for Texas sorghum farmers utilizing a digital format. The effort is led by AgriLife Extension agronomists Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Lubbock, and Ronnie Schnell, Ph.D., Bryan-College Station, both in the Department of Soil […]

Initial Texas agricultural loss estimates from Uri exceed $600 million
March 08, 2021

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Winter Storm Uri, which blasted through the entire state of Texas, caused at least $600 million in agricultural losses, according to preliminary data from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agricultural economists. “A large number of Texas farmers, ranchers and others involved in commercial agriculture and agricultural production were seriously affected by Winter […]

Spread the word

Browse More Clips

Canola growth environments & genetics shape seed microbiomes

Texas NRCS Watershed Program schedules quarterly update for May

Primary Sidebar

MORE

TEXAS CLIPS

cattle on feed
CattleFax forecasts producer profitability in 2023
February 2, 2023
2022 Heritage Breed Microgrants awarded
February 2, 2023
Sorghum: The unlikely food source for pollinators
February 2, 2023
The economic impact of the National Watermelon Promotion Board
February 2, 2023
Cattlemen’s College draws big crowd in New Orleans
February 2, 2023
  • Trending
  • Latest

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...

Sorghum: The unlikely food source for pollinators
February 2, 2023
Carbon capture & storage technology benefits IL ethanol, corn
February 1, 2023
AgriWebb, Regrow Ag scale adoption of climate-smart practices in beef production
February 1, 2023
NOAA grant through CBF will boost environmental education in Capital area
February 1, 2023
Anita Oberholster and colleagues recognized for smoke taint research
February 1, 2023

Footer

MORNING AG CLIPS

  • Contact Us
  • Sponsors
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service

CONNECT WITH US

  • Like Us on Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

TRACK YOUR TRADE

  • Markets & Economy
  • Cattle Updates
  • Dairy News
  • Policy & Politics
  • Corn Alerts

QUICK LINKS

  • Account
  • Portal Membership
  • Just Me, Kate
  • Farmhouse Communication

Get the MAC App Today!

Get it on Google Play
Download on the App Store

© 2023 Morning Ag Clips, LLC. All Rights Reserved.