GRAIN POV UPDATE
RECAPS COTTON
Paying
off
Cotton basis on the rise
World harvest expected to exceed global use
t
Sorghum shaking
up the food market
f
By Joe Kelley
or the first time in the 15 years I have
been going to South Texas, I saw dry
land yellow corn in Sarita, Texas,
(halfway between Kingsville and Raymondville) — and the crop looked surprisingly
good, especially given the way the area has
looked for the past couple of years — plenty
of sand, mesquite and sandspurs. This is the
most vivid example of the positive, dramatic
change that has come to the Coastal Bend and
Lower Rio Grande Valley over the past several
months. Timely and plentiful rains have
transformed the normally harsh environment
into a scene that looks more representative of
the area around El Campo.
The 10 inches or more of rain that we have
received over this second to last weekend in
May have gone a long way in bringing the
crops along and making a dent in the rainfall
deficit for the year. The crops from Wharton
and points south and west to through Corpus,
Robstown and the lower Rio Grande Valley are all looking good. Reports from the
two closest Mexican states (Tamaulipas and
Nuevo Leon) are anticipating strong sorghum
crops this year as well. Obviously, with all of
the South Texas crops looking as good as they
do, and not wanting to jinx the outcome, this
coming harvest is expected to be one of big
yields, long truck lines at export houses and a
tight supply of trucks for harvest. Thankfully,
last year United Ag was able to place a dryer
and wet tanks at the Port of Victoria location.
The added capability and capacity provided
10
A Cheerios variety features sorghum, and another
major cereal manufacturer will be following suit.
shorter turns for area farmers who no longer
had to worry about going to Hillje or Danevang if they had high moisture grain. This
year, we expect that capacity and capability to
pay off again if high moisture grain exists.
The National Sorghum Checkoff, U.S.
Grains Council and Texas Sorghum Producer’s hosted the Export Sorghum conference
in Houston earlier this month. The focus of
the event was to bring in the top 25 sorghum
buyers from across the globe to Texas to meet
exporters of grain sorghum. Companies from
Spain, China, Japan and Mexico were in attendance, along with U.S. trading companies
who sell to these regions. Asia came on strong
in the past year or so as major buyer of grain
sorghum. The Chinese especially have driven
a lot of the excitement for grain sorghum
across a variety segments: from a feedstock
for their liquor (wine) industry, to a major
ingredient in poultry, swine and duck feed
rations.
And while all of the “export” business is exciting and worthwhile, what I think the most
interesting segment is what we are and will be
seeing in the human consumption areas here
in the United States. As mentioned in the previous edition of Connection, grain sorghum
is in the peanut butter flavored multi-grain
variety of Cheerios. Another major cereal
manufacturer is expected to include grain
sorghum in one of its mainstay varieties. Why
is grain sorghum coming on so strong in the
U.S. now? Well, it seems as if hard work of the
various grain sorghum programs and agencies is beginning to pay off and gain traction
with the buyers — and the consumer. These
programs and agencies cite that grain sorghum is: an ancient grain, non-GMO, gluten
free and extremely high in antioxidants.
As for antioxidants, blueberries have an
ORAC level of between 87 and 870. Brown
sorghum bran has a ORAC level of between
2,400 and 3,100. One company in particular,
Nu Life Market, a milling company out of
Scott City, Kansas, is the forerunner in the
development of various specialty sorghum
flours, including pearled, black, white and
burgundy. Nu Life has a vertically integrated
approach to its product. The integration starts
with the farmer, whom Nu Life contracts
directly to grow a specific variety and type of
grain sorghum. The next step is that the grain
sorghum is only harvested by equipment that
is used to harvest grain sorghum, and that
particular variety of grain sorghum on top of
that. Obviously, like in any milling operation,
a great deal of attention is given to the cleanliness of the mill, the milling operation and
the packaging process. Given NuLife’s commitment to sorghum flour, I look for them
to grow as an industry leader in sorghum
destined for the food market.
By Sally Andel
he USDA reported a reduction
in production for the upcoming crop year and an increase
in consumption. However other sources
suggest the U.S. is expected to produce
1.6 million bales more than last year.
The world cotton harvest is expected to
exceed global mill use. Worldwide, the
largest change in production is expected
in China, where limited application of
their new grower support program is
expected to result in lower planted acreage. It is estimated that China will have
a crop 2.5 million bales smaller than last
year. India and Australia are also expected to have a decrease in production.
West Texas received some much
needed rains. This should mean a lot
to local farmers in that area. It seems
that if it’s going to rain in West Texas
it is going to happen Memorial Day
weekend. This also has shown a significant increase in our basis. The December cotton future has been as high as
.8474 in early May and its recent low
has been approximately .7700. Most
analysts believe that there isn’t a lot of
room for improvement. Hopefully the
basis will decrease at harvest and we
will be able to sell at a decent price.
We will again be using the PCCA
bookkeeping