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Texas Sorghum Crop Conditions – Flash fooding last week in the Rio Grande Valley and the Coastal Bend didn’t cause much havoc with the current crops but some parts were hit harder than others. Places in the Lower Rio Grande Valley saw up to 15 inches of rain over a few days. About 70% of the sorghum crop is harvested …

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Trade Talks with China Continue—Last week, the sorghum industry welcomed news that the 178 percent tariff and anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations were dropped. Trade talks between the two countries continued this week, showing signs that China has promised to help reduce the trade surplus by purchasing more U.S. agriculture and energy products. There are many questions being raised about those …

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U.S. Grains Council, Industry Engage International Buyers on U.S. Sorghum—After China announced a 178.6 percent tariff in a preliminary decision on the anti-dumping case just a few weeks ago, ships loaded with U.S. sorghum needed new destinations. An industry-wide effort between National Sorghum Producers, the Sorghum Checkoff, U.S. Grains Council and state sorghum associations to reroute grain has been critical. Read more …

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Statements on Preliminary Duties from China Against U.S. Sorghum— “National Sorghum Producers is deeply disappointed in the preliminary antidumping determination issued today by China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). U.S. sorghum is not being dumped in China, and U.S. sorghum producers and exporters have not caused any injury to China’s sorghum industry. “National Sorghum Producers, alongside our producers, stakeholders and partners, …

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China Tariffs—This week, China announced another schedule of tariffs in response to the United States’ $50 billion tariffs stemming from a Section 301 investigation into Chinese policies regarding the forced transfer of intellectual properties. About one-third of the products on the newest round of Chinese tariffs are agricultural, amounting to roughly $17 billion worth of Chinese imports. These agricultural products …

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Trump Announces New Tariffs on Chinese Goods—On March 22, President Trump announced that the Office of the United States Trade Representative had concluded its investigation into China’s practices regarding the transfers of intellectual property and technology. Under the rarely invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the federal government has the authority to take action against practices by …

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Incumbents Face, Largely Survive, Wave of Primary Challengers—On Tuesday, March 6 Texans from all parties lined up to vote in primary elections ahead of the fall 2018 midterms. Given Texas’s status as the first state in the nation to hold primary elections, the results were widely reported on by national media as a bellwether of President Trump’s approval in a …

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NSP Update—National Sorghum Producers continued steps this week to respond to the announcement of anti-dumping and countervailing duties investigations into imports of U.S. sorghum by the Chinese government. Our partners and stakeholders across the industry are working closely together to demonstrate that U.S. sorghum is not dumped into China, it is not unfairly subsidized and is not injuring China. Meanwhile, …

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  Texas Sorghum Joint Annual Meeting—Earlier this week, the Texas Grain Sorghum Producers Board (TGSB), Texas Grain Sorghum Association (TGSA) and delegate body hosted the third joint annual meeting for the organizations. The meeting took place in Austin in conjunction with the Texas Ag Form. Approximately 50 grain sorghum producers and industry leaders from across the state came together to …

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2018 Planting Decisions—The following information was provided by USCP’s Director of Agronomy, Brent Bean. As growers begin to make planting decisions here are some things to think about when considering planting grain sorghum: Sorghum export prices continue to soar. Most recently, based on Market Perspectives Information Report from January 11, 2018, FOB sorghum export bids reflect a 25.6 percent premium …

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