US sorghum graded at No. 1 certification

For the sixth year in a row, the US sorghum crop was on average graded above the necessary requirements for US No. 1 certification, according to the 2024-25 Sorghum Quality Report released by the US Grains Council (USGC).

Data was drawn from 95 samples collected from 15 participating elevators in the central and southern regions of the United States, an area representing nearly 100% of all US sorghum exports.

Total sorghum damage came in at 0.3% in the aggregate and no heat damage was observed in the samples. Kernel diameter, an indicator of maturity and resiliency, was similar to last year and the five-year average of previous studies.

Additionally, tannins were absent from the sorghum samples for the sixth year in a row and starch and oil content both increased from last year’s crop.

“The Council’s mission is to develop markets, enable trade and improve lives, and what better way to support that mission than to offer transparent reports on grain quality as a service to our partners worldwide to empower them to make the best purchasing decisions,” said Verity Ulibarri, chairwoman of the USGC. “We hope it provides valuable information about the quality of US sorghum to the US industry’s valued overseas customers and end-users who count on our products every day.”

The samples were collected by the Amarillo Grain Exchange and analyzed at the Grain Quality Testing Lab at Kansas State University’s Grain Science Department, where scientists calculated averages and standard deviations for each quality factor tested and reported results for the US aggregate.

Tags: USA, sorghum