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2015/2016 Sorghum Early Harvest Report

Contents

  1. Harvest Quality Highlights
  2. Introduction
  3. Quality Test Results
  4. Chemical Composition
  5. Physical Factors
  6. Testing Analysis Methods
  7. Moisture
  8. Chemical Composition
  9. Physical Factors
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I. HARVEST QUALITY HIGHLIGHTS

The 2015 U.S. sorghum crop is expected to be the largest since 1999, thanks to projected high yields and acreage. Setting the stage for the entire 2015 U.S. sorghum crop, the Early Harvest sorghum crop entered the market channel with the following characteristics:

GRADE FACTORS AND MOISTURE

  • Average test weight of 57.9 lb/bu (74.5 kg/hl), with 94% above the minimum limit for U.S. No. 2 grade sorghum.
  • Low levels of BNFM (average of 1.4%), with 92% below the maximum limit for U.S. No. 1 grade.
  • Average foreign material of 0.5%, well below the maximum limit for U.S. No. 1 grade, indicating little cleaning will be required.
  • Low levels of total damage (average of 0.2%), with 96% below the maximum limit for U.S. No. 1 grade.
  • No observed heat damage, which was expected for farm-originated samples.
  • Average elevator moisture of 14.5%, near optimum for harvest moisture.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

  • Average protein concentration of 10.4% (dry basis), which is on the lower end of typical protein concentration values in literature for U.S. sorghum hybrids.
  • Average starch concentration of 73.3% (dry basis), a typical level for any sorghum samples.
  • Average oil concentration of 4.3% (dry basis), which is on the higher end of typical oil concentration values in literature for U.S. sorghum hybrids.
  • No detected levels of tannins.

PHYSICAL FACTORS

  • Average kernel diameter of 2.54 mm and average kernel volume of 19.22 mm3, typical values for any sorghum samples.
  • A 1000-k weight average (25.97 g), on the lower end of typical values in literature.
  • Average kernel true density of 1.350 g/cm3, which is within the range of feed sorghum.
  • Average kernel hardness index of 68.5, a typical value for any sorghum samples.