Country News
China: U.S. farmers are planting the largest amount of sorghum since 2008 as China increasingly turns to it as a feed grain in preference to corn, according to Reuters. More than half of the 8 MMT sorghum slated for export this year will likely be shipped to China. Exporters have also already sold around 800,000 MT of next year’s crop. U.S. farmers will likely plant 8.129 million acres of sorghum, which is 1 million acres more than was planted last year, but far below the record 27 million acres planted in 1957. This year, sorghum is predicted to be worth around $100 more per acre than corn.
Further, WPI reports that China imported seven times more sorghum and double the amount of barley in February 2015 compared to February 2014.
Malawi: Severe flooding in Malawi has caused significant damage to the country’s croplands and the government has set aside $20 million in order to import corn, reports WPI.
South Africa: Farmers stand in opposition to a proposal from South Africa’s president that would limit farm size and ownership, reports WPI. The farmers believe that this initiative will result in reduced corn production.