Atrazine Meeting--National
Sorghum Producers Past President Greg Shelor of Minneola, KS, talks to
Jerilyn Johnson, a reporter for Missouri Ruralist. Shelor was one of
seven past presidents of NSP and NCGA who participated in a
meeting with executives from Syngenta Crop Protection at the National
Corn Growers Association headquarters in Chesterfield, MO on September
29. Shelor told the group, . “I can’t no-till without atrazine.
With no-till there is not near the runoff and without no-till I'll
have 50 or 60 bushel sorghum instead of the 100 to 120 bushels I have
now.”
Oct. 1,
2009--Grower Leaders Voice Atrazine Support
Growers from Kansas and four other states left their combines this
week to talk to leadership from Syngenta Crop Protection about the
importance of atrazine to their farming operations. A roundtable
meeting was held at the National Corn Growers Association office in
Chesterfield, MO, followed by an informal meeting at the Keith Witt
farm in Warrenton, MO.
While atrazine was successfully re-registered by EPA in 2006, recent
attacks by environmental activists including the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC) have brought the issue to the forefront. Trial
attorneys also continue their efforts for legal action against the
makers of atrazine.
Growers represented at the meeting included four past NCGA Presidents:
Ron Litterer, Iowa; Ken McCauley, Kansas; Dee Vaughan, Texas and Fred
Yoder, Ohio. Three past presidents of the National Sorghum Producers
were present: Greg Shelor, Kansas; James Vorderstrasse, Nebraska, and
Bill Kubecka, Texas.
READ MORE
9-11-09--Kansas
Sorghum to Hit Record Yield in 2009 Crop--
The September 11 crop production report
pegs the Kansas grain sorghum crop at 221.4 million bushels with a
record yield of 82 bushels per acre. Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers
Association Executive Director Jere White said the sorghum crop looks
good across the state. “All you have to do is drive down the road to
see the quality of this year’s sorghum crop. You can see some
beautiful sorghum fields across the state,” White said. “Sorghum has
always been a popular choice for Kansas growers because it can produce
a crop in the worst years. This year, it is really shining because of
the excellent conditions throughout the growing season in most parts
of the state.”READ
MORE!
NEWS ALERT! Activist Groups Twist EPA Atrazine Data to Alarm Consumers
8-25-09--Three media events on
August 23-24 highlighted activists’ efforts to raise public concern
about the herbicide atrazine. The New York Times, Huffington Post and
National Resources Defense Council all release reports about atrazine
on Sunday and Monday. The stories were based on data from a monitoring
program that Syngenta, the maker of atrazine, entered into with EPA in
2003. The Atrazine Monitoring Program (AMP) is an intensive monitoring
program currently focusing on about 100 community water systems
located primarily in the Midwest.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level (MCL)
for atrazine at 3 parts per billion (ppb) based on an annual average
in public drinking water. Atrazine is among a list of 87 drinking
water contaminants routinely monitored by the EPA. Jere White,
executive director of the Kansas Corn Growers Association and Kansas
Grain Sorghum Producers Association said results of the two testing
programs should not be used to confuse consumers.READ
MORE!
For more information and
background on this issue, visit this
Atrazine Blog
KANSAS
SORGHUM NEWS FEED
Oct. 1,
2009--Grower Leaders Voice Atrazine Support
READ
MORE
9-11-09--Kansas Sorghum to Hit Record
Yield in 2009 Crop READ
MORE!
8-25-09--Kansas Growers Say Activist Groups
Twist EPA Atrazine Data to Alarm Consumers
READ
MORE!
4-24-09--Growers Say Out of State Trial
Attorneys Miss the Point in Kansas Atrazine Lawsuit
read
more
4-23-09--City of Hillsboro Supplies
Atrazine Lawsuit Records to Growers Associations
read
more
4-14-09--Kansas Growers Ask
Marion County Attorney to Investigate Open Records, Open
Meeting Violations
read more
4-2-09--Kansas Farming Communities
Targeted by Trial Attorneys for Atrazine Lawsuit
read more
Kansas sorghum grower Clayton Short talks to a US Grains
Council trade team about his sorghum farming operation near
Assaria, Kansas.
United Sorghum Checkoff
Program, US Grains Council Brings Trade Teams through Kansas
The U.S. Grains Council, in conjunction with the United
Sorghum Checkoff Program, hosted representatives from Mexico
on a sorghum buying mission to Kansas Monday evening, Tuesday
and Wednesday, May 18th-20th.
The buyers, who represent large livestock feeders and co-ops,
traveled from the Texas gulf coast to Kansas Monday evening
and spent Tuesday and Wednesday touring several central Kansas
locations.� The goal of the mission was to strengthen export
markets to Mexico for the sorghum industry
Shelee Padgett, National Sorghum Producers Member Services
Director, said the trip is part of the education and research
function of the national sorghum checkoff. “Mexico is a great
trade partner,” Padgett said.
The mission in Kansas began Tuesday with a tour of the ADM
corporate headquarters.� The group continued on to the DeBruce
grain facility in Abilene, Kansas, and also toured the ADM
Farmland Grain Company site in Salina.� Wednesday morning the
Mexican group toured Cargill Ag Horizons then traveled to
Assaria to visit with Clayton Short, a sorghum producer.� They
also visited AgMark, a grain marketing organization in
Concordia, Kansas, and Scoular, an agriculture marketing
company in Downs, Kansas.
USCP and the U.S. Grains Council hope to build lasting
relationships through the participation in this mission and
future missions and hope to move more grain as a direct
result.� Upcoming missions will take buyers to Nebraska,
Arkansas, Louisiana and back to Texas and Kansas.�
Kansas Sorghum Producer Named President of
United Sorghum Checkoff Board
Bill Greving of Prairie View, Kansas was elected chairman of
the United Sorghum Checkoff Board of Directors at its first
meeting in Washington, DC in November 2008. The Board accomplished
many tasks that will allow the checkoff program to efficiently
move forward The Board members were sworn in by Secretary of
Agriculture Ed Schafer on Tuesday morning and immediately
began their meeting, including orientation by USDA’s
Agriculture Marketing Service and election of officers.
more
United Sorghum
Checkoff Board
The national sorghum checkoff was
established on July 1, 2008. Learn how USCP is working for
growers.
Kansas producers are providing
grain for feed, food and fuel!
Our Kansas Feed, Food and Fuel blog has current postings on the latest
news about ethanol and feedgrains. VISIT
OUR FEED, FOOD AND FUEL WEB PAGE!
Grain Sorghum-it's also
called milo. Kansas
producers grow over
40 percent of the
nation's grain
sorghum every year.
Kansas is the nation's leading producer of grain sorghum.
Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service released final 2008 production
numbers in January 2009. Kansas sorghum production was strong at 214 million bushels,
grown on 2.65 million acres. And combined Kansas
feedgrain production (sorghum and corn) is over 700 million bushels. Total US sorghum
production was 472 million bushels.
Kansas
growers value grain
sorghum because it
is well suited to
perform well in
many types of soils
and weather. Kansas
is a diverse state
with soils ranging
from sandy to clay
to loam, and with
summertime weather
patterns ranging
from hot and humid
in the east to hot
and dry in the
west.
With these varying
weather and soil
conditions
throughout Kansas,
grain sorghum is a
crop that Kansas
farmers can depend
on.
