# Sorghum: Extraction

The clever trick that lets sorghum survive drought

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/extraction/

What this tab covers How it is mined, drilled or grown, and processed into a tradeable form: the main methods compared, their unit economics, by-products, and the companies that do this work globally and in India.

Sorghum is a heat-loving grass, domesticated in Africa, that copes with drought better than maize. It uses an efficient form of photosynthesis and can go dormant in dry spells, then resume growth. That suits it to semi-arid land in the Sahel, Sudan, Ethiopia, India, the US Great Plains and northern Mexico. In Africa and India smallholders grow it for food, often without irrigation or much fertiliser. In the US and Australia it is a mechanised crop grown mainly for feed and export. Stalks provide forage and fuel.

Sorghum is grown in two very different systems. In the US Plains, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Australia it is a mechanised, often dryland, commercial crop sold for feed, ethanol and export to China. In Africa and India it is mostly a smallholder food crop grown without irrigation and with little fertiliser, and much of it never reaches a market. Yields differ by a factor of three or more. After harvest, grain is either milled for food, fed to animals, distilled into baijiu or turned into ethanol. Because almost all of it is rain-fed, weather in a few regions drives supply.

#### Methods compared

| Method | Share of supply | Typical scale | Recovery / efficiency | By-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Mechanised dryland and rain-fed grain sorghum (US, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Argentina)** | US, Mexico, Brazil and Australia together grew 19.8 Mt, 30.8% of world output in 2024 (FAOSTAT, derived) | US harvested 6.0 million acres (about 2.4 million ha) in 2025/26 (WASDE) | Yields in 2024: US 3.85 t/ha, Mexico 3.52 t/ha, Australia 3.15 t/ha, Brazil 3.00 t/ha (FAOSTAT). US yield was 72.6 bu/acre (about 4.6 t/ha) in 2025/26 (WASDE) | stover for grazing; distillers grains from ethanol | indicative (basis: USDA average farm price): US farm price $3.67/bu in 2025/26, about $145/t, projected $4.50/bu for 2026/27 (WASDE, Oct 2026); production cost not found in sources used |
| **Smallholder rain-fed food sorghum (Sahel, Sudan, Ethiopia, India)** | Nigeria, Sudan, India and Ethiopia grew 21.4 Mt, 33.3% of world output in 2024 (FAOSTAT, derived) | holdings of one to a few hectares; India harvested 4.6 million ha in 2024 (FAOSTAT) | Yields in 2024: Ethiopia 2.48 t/ha, India 1.17 t/ha, Nigeria 1.07 t/ha, Sudan 0.63 t/ha (FAOSTAT) | stalks and leaves for fodder, fuel and roofing | India MSP for hybrid jowar Rs 3,699/quintal in 2025-26 and Rs 4,023/quintal in 2026-27 (Cabinet decision, 13 May 2026); cost of cultivation not found in sources used |
| **Processing: milling, feed, distilling and ethanol** | feed 41.9% and FSI 58.1% of world use in 2025/26 (USDA PSD) | US FSI use 120 million bushels in 2025/26 (WASDE) | n/a | bran; distillers dried grains (DDGS); spent grain from baijiu | n/a |

#### How each method works
**Mechanised dryland and rain-fed grain sorghum (US, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Argentina)**

Large farms plant hybrids with planters and harvest with combines. In the US it fills dry land where maize is too risky; in Brazil it is a second crop after soybeans. Grain goes to elevators and is sold for feed, ethanol or export. Farmers price it as a basis to CBOT maize futures.

Lower water need and input cost than maize, but yields swing hard with drought (US output fell to 4.77 Mt in 2022/23 from 11.38 Mt the year before, USDA PSD).
 FAOSTAT 2024; USDA WASDE October 2026; USDA PSD **Smallholder rain-fed food sorghum (Sahel, Sudan, Ethiopia, India)**

Families sow local or improved varieties by hand or bullock, often intercropped with legumes, and harvest heads by hand. Grain is stored at home and eaten through the year; surpluses are sold in local markets. In India, rabi jowar in Maharashtra and Karnataka grows on residual moisture after the monsoon.

Very low input cost and high resilience, but low yields, little market access and exposure to conflict (Sudan) and erratic rains.
 FAOSTAT 2024; India Ministry of Agriculture time series, 3rd advance estimates 2025-26; DT Next/PTI, 13 May 2026 **Processing: milling, feed, distilling and ethanol**

For food, grain is decorticated to remove the bran and milled to flour, at home, in village mills or in packaged-food plants. Feed mills grind it whole. Chinese distillers ferment sorghum in pits for baijiu. US dry-mill ethanol plants process it like maize.

Flexible end uses, but tannins and lower digestibility in some varieties limit feed value, and food demand in cities is shifting to wheat and rice.
 USDA PSD and WASDE, October 2026 Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs vary widely by deposit, region and year.

#### Who does it: global

| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Cargill** Private company; sorghum volumes not published | US | grain merchandising and export | not published | 2025 | not available |
| **Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)** Reports grain volumes in aggregate; sorghum not published separately | US | grain origination, export and processing | not published | 2025 | not available |
| **Bunge (merged with Viterra in 2025)** Sorghum volumes not published separately | US/Switzerland | grain merchandising (Australia, Argentina, US) | not published | 2025 | not available |
| **COFCO International** Sorghum volumes not published separately | China | buyer and trader of feed grains for China | not published | 2025 | not available |
| **Louis Dreyfus Company** Sorghum volumes not published separately | Netherlands | grain merchandising | not published | 2025 | not available |
| **US sorghum farmers (aggregate)** | US | largest producer and exporter | 11.1 Mt produced; 5.2 Mt exported | 2025/26 | [USDA PSD and WASDE, October 2026](https://www.usda.gov/oce/commodity/wasde) |

#### Who does it: India

| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Indian jowar farmers (aggregate, mainly Maharashtra and Karnataka)** | India | production | 4.36 Mt (43.56 lakh t; 2024-25: 4.96 Mt) | 2025-26 (3rd advance estimate) | [Ministry of Agriculture, time series 3rd AE 2025-26](https://desagri.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Time-Series-3rd-AE-2025-26-English.pdf) |
| **State procurement agencies with FCI (decentralised MSP procurement)** Jowar procurement volume not found in sources checked; MSP hybrid jowar Rs 4,023/quintal for 2026-27 | India | MSP procurement of jowar for public distribution | not published | 2025-26 | not available |

India is the fourth-largest producer (4.36 Mt in 2025-26) but trades little: USDA puts exports at 45-50 kt and imports at zero. Output has fallen for decades as rice and wheat under the public distribution system replaced jowar in diets. The 2023 International Year of Millets and the Shree Anna campaign aim to revive demand; nutri-cereal output was 18.6 Mt in 2024-25 and 17.6 Mt in 2025-26 (3rd AE).

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/correlation/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/links/index.md)