South Texas Commodity Symposium – Don’t forget to join us on Thursday, Oct. 4th in Robstown! Texas Grain Sorghum Producers, Corn Producers Association of Texas, South Texas Cotton and Grain Association and Southwest Council of Agribusiness will once again team up to bring a commodity symposium to South Texas growers. For the first time, the event will be held in conjunction with the Texas AgXchange Farm & Ranch Show at the RMB Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown, Tex. The symposium will begin at 10 a.m. in the Arena, next to the indoor exhibits. Speakers include Tom Sell of Combest, Sell and Assoc. providing a Farm Bill update, Brian McCuistion will give details on the upcoming Texas Grain Producers Indemnity Fund referendum, and Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples will address border control and immigration issues. The event will conclude at noon with attendees receiving free tickets to the AgXchange BBQ luncheon. Hope to see you there!
Secretary Vilsack Announces USCP Board Appointments – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced four appointments to the United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP) Board of Directors. The four sorghum producers appointed are Bill Kubecka of Palacious, Texas; Gregory Shelor of Minneloa, Kansas; William Greving of Prairie View, Kansas; and David Fremark of St. Lawrence, South Dakota for the at-large position. The appointees were selected from nominations by certified producer organizations. USCP holds a 13-member board.
USCP Committee Positions Available – Last year the USCP Board of Directors developed new working committees to further develop the sorghum industry and the working capabilities of the Sorghum Checkoff. This change enables outside participants, whether that be growers, researchers, industry leaders, etc. to apply to be on these committees in order to provide insight, knowledge and different views. The three committees are Crop Improvement, Renewables and High Value Markets. If you are interested in sharing your leadership with the sorghum industry, please contact morgan@texassorghum.org to receive an application form. The deadline for application submission is October 8, 2012. The board will review and accept committee applications at their December board meeting.
Sorghum Syrup Making Its Way Into Mainstream Restaurants – A chef at a restaurant in Charleston, S.C. says that sorghum is on the rise. An NRP reporter provided an entire story about sorghum coming into restaurants and that she never heard of sorghum until she began to see it about a year ago on menus in Washington, D.C. She found sorghum in chili glaze on duck, sorghum syrup in cocktails, on desserts, and also found the sorghum seed incorporated into a salad. Mika Lata, the chef from South Carolina, makes sorghum butter to spread on biscuits by using sorghum syrup and unsalted butter. Kentucky and Tennesee are the top producers of sorghum syrup and the National Sweet Sorghum Producers & Processors Association noted that sorghum syrup can be substituted for any recipe that calls for molasses, honey, corn syrup or maple syrup. The syrup is made from the juice extracted from sorghum cane, and then it is filtered and cooked down in open pans while it becomes thicker and darker after a few hours of simmering and skimming in an evaporating pan.
