A. U.S. Sorghum Export Flow
As sorghum is harvested, farmers transport grain to on-farm storage, end users, or commercial grain facilities. While some producers feed their sorghum to their livestock, the majority of the sorghum moves to other end users (feed mills or processors) or to commercial grain handling facilities such as local grain elevators, inland subterminals, river elevators, and port elevators. Local grain elevators typically receive most of their grain directly from farmers. Inland subterminals or river elevators collect grains in quantities suitable for loading on unit trains or barges for further transport. These elevators are often located where the transport of bulk grain can be easily accommodated by unit trains or barges. Local grain, inland subterminal, and river elevators provide functions such as drying, cleaning, blending, storing, and merchandising of grain. River elevators and the larger inland subterminals supply most of the sorghum destined for export markets. The figure to the right conveys the flow of U.S. sorghum destined for export markets.