For more information, contact:
Maddy Meier
Senior Director of Communications
Kansas Sorghum
maddy[at]ksgrainsorghum.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kansas Sorghum Mobilizes 29 Companies, Nine Countries, Three Export Exchange Teams Over Seven Days
MANHATTAN, Kan. (Oct. 21, 2026) – The Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission (KGSC), with support from Kansas Sorghum Producers (KSP), recently completed statewide tours of the 2026 sorghum crop in Kansas for dozens of potential buyers from Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, India and China.
Altogether, these inbound trade missions traveled across Kansas with tailored visits to dozens of Kansas communities, businesses and farms to develop new and strengthened demand for U.S. sorghum in the global market. Two teams of buyers, one from Latin America and another from both India and Sri Lanka traveled between Wichita and Garden City from Oct. 11-15. The third team, consisting of the world’s largest feed distribution company from China and interested new buyers from Mongolia, traveled throughout central Kansas from Oct. 18-21, all connected with the U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council (USGBC) premier Export Exchange conference in Seattle on Oct. 15-16.
Export Exchange is a biennial event allowing buyers and sellers of U.S. corn, sorghum, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and other commodities to network and gain a better understanding of the needs of buyers around the world and the caliber of supply the U.S. provides. This year’s Export Exchange broke previous attendance records, with more than 500 attendees representing 29 countries. Before and after the conference, Kansas Sorghum hosted 34 company attendees altogether.
“Our ability to export our Kansas sorghum crop each year depends on our strong and willing capability to host international buyers in Kansas each harvest season, so that customers can see firsthand the quality and opportunity U.S. sorghum can provide to their companies abroad,” said KGSC Chairman Brant Peterson, a farmer from Stanton County, who hosted Indian and Sri Lankan customers at his farm. “We greatly appreciate our partnership with USGBC and we look forward to hosting even more buyers in 2027 for Export Sorghum to continue building on our diversified market development momentum.”
“Even with a challenging growing season, which we are used to overcoming in sorghum country, our Kansas sorghum crop remains well-positioned to meet international demand from every corner of the globe,” said KSP President Andy Hineman, a farmer from Lane County, who hosted Latin American buyers at his farm. “Kansas Sorghum’s priority remains focused on producer profitability, market access, and growing demand at home and abroad. In international markets, that means regaining strong market access to mature destinations while making impressive inroads to new regions and new buyers in emerging destinations.”
This year’s efforts build on 2025’s Export Sorghum conference, where Kansas Sorghum hosted four teams covering five continents. Efforts to accelerate market diversification in 2025 led to increased exports to Spain, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and other destinations in Marketing Year 2025-2026.
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Kansas Sorghum Producers (KSP) gives growers a voice in legislative, regulatory and industry affairs through efforts funded through membership dues.
The Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission (KGSC) is committed to sorghum promotion, research, and information designed to strengthen, expand and develop new foreign and domestic markets for sorghum.
