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2015/2016 Sorghum Harvest and Export Quality Report

Contents

  1. Harvest Quality Highlights
  2. Export Quality Highlights
  3. Introduction
  4. Harvest Quality Test Results
  5. Moisture
  6. Physical Factors
  7. Mycotoxins
  8. Export Quality Test Results
  9. Moisture
  10. Chemical Composition
  11. Physical Factors
  12. Mycotoxins
  13. Crop and Weather Conditions
  14. Planting and Early Growth Conditions
  15. Late Vegetative and Mid-Pollination Conditions
  16. Maturity and Harvest Conditions
  17. Comparison of 2015 to 2010-2014
  18. U.S. Sorghum Export System
  19. U.S. Sorghum Export Flow
  20. Impact of the Sorghum Market Channel on Quality
  21. U.S. Government Inspection and Grading
  22. U.S. Sorghum Production, Usage and Outlook
  23. U.S. Sorghum Use and Ending Stocks
  24. Outlook
  25. Harvest Survey and Statistical Analysis Methods
  26. Survey Design and Sampling
  27. Statistical Analysis
  28. Export Survey and Statistical Analysis Methods
  29. Survey Design and Sampling
  30. Statistical Analysis
  31. Testing Analysis Methods
  32. Sorghum Grading Factors
  33. Moisture
  34. Chemical Composition
  35. Physical Factors
  36. Mycotoxin Testing
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I. HARVEST QUALITY HIGHLIGHTS

Due to particularly favorable weather conditions during the growing season, which enabled high yields and increased acreage, the 2015 U.S. sorghum crop is estimated at 15.083 million metric tons (594 million bushels), a 37% increase in production over the 2014 crop and the largest since 1999. The 2015 harvest samples were, on average, very good, with 94% grading U.S. No. 2 or better. Average moisture was near optimum for harvest moisture, no tannins were detected, and the samples’ averages for chemical and most physical traits were in the typical range of values in literature for U.S. sorghum. The 2015 U.S. sorghum crop entered the market channel with the following characteristics:

GRADE FACTORS AND MOISTURE

  • Average test weight of 58.9 lb/bu (75.9 kg/hl), with 97% at or above the minimum limit for U.S. No. 2 grade sorghum.
  • Low levels of broken kernels and foreign material (BNFM) (average of 1.7%), with 91% at or below the maximum limit for U.S. No. 1 grade.
  • Average foreign material of 0.6%, well below the maximum limit for U.S. No. 1 grade, indicating little cleaning required.
  • Low levels of total damage (average of 0.1%), with 99% 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 14.1%, near optimum for harvest moisture.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

  • Average protein concentration of 10.9% (dry basis), which is in the range of typical protein concentration values in literature for U.S. sorghum hybrids.
  • Average starch concentration of 73.2% (dry basis), a typical level for any sorghum samples.
  • Average oil concentration of 4.5% (dry basis), which is in the range of typical oil concentration values in literature for U.S. sorghum hybrids.
  • No detected levels of tannins.

PHYSICAL FACTORS

  • Average kernel diameter of 2.53 mm and average 1000-k weight (TKW) of 26.30 g, typical values for any sorghum samples.
  • Average kernel volume of 19.34 mm3, a value on the lower end of typical values in literature.
  • Average kernel true density of 1.359 g/cm3, which is within the range of feed sorghum.
  • Average kernel hardness index of 71.0, a typical value for any commercial sorghum samples.

MYCOTOXIN

  • 100% of the 2015 sorghum harvest samples tested below the FDA action level of 20 ppb.
  • 100% of the 2015 sorghum harvest samples tested below the FDA advisory levels for DON (5 ppm for hogs and other animals and 10 ppm for chicken and cattle).