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Kansas Sorghum Update: Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission Chairman Kniebel Delivers Commodity Testimony to Kansas Legislature

The Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission held their Winter 2022 Board Meeting in Salina, KS, on January 27, 2022 in order to hone in on the year ahead and receive reports from state and national staff deeply ingrained in U.S. sorghum industry advancements. The Commission is composed of sorghum farmers from the nine USDA Crop Reporting Districts of Kansas, elected each year by Kansas sorghum farmers themselves.

Presenting to the Commission were staff for the Collaborative Sorghum Investment Program housed at Kansas State University as well as United Sorghum Checkoff Program staff, fulfilling a picture of new opportunities for sorghum growers in the near future.

 

That same week the Commission met, Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission Chairman Kevin Kniebel also presented annual commodity testimony on behalf of the sorghum industry to the Kansas House and Senate Agriculture Committees, reporting on the 2021 growing year and educating policymakers about dynamics in the year ahead.

Chairman Kniebel, a sorghum farmer near White City, discussed the meaningful year the sorghum industry in Kansas has seen in 2021, noting a 20% increase in acreage to 3.6 million acres of sorghum planted throughout the state and a national average price per bushel of $5.85 last year. In fact, this past year’s national sorghum crop was valued at $2.7 billion–the most valuable U.S. sorghum crop in history. Read more about 2021’s highlights for Kansas sorghum in the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission’s 2021 Annual Report.