Drought-hardy sorghum is a minor feed grain for U.S. farmers. Compared to king corn, it is grown on a sliver of land, mostly in the Plains. “Now some U.S. food manufacturers are capitalizing on its most marketable trait: Sorghum is gluten-free. In the past few years, it has been popping up in spirits, grain mixes, and as a popcorn substitute,” writes Tove Danovich at Civil Eats. Sweet sorghum “is making a comeback as a syrup,” she writes. “Gluten-free beers are another popular use for sorghum.” New Grist beer, from Lakefront Brewery, was one of the first sorghum beers produced in the United States.
Sorghum “has many qualities to recommend it,” says Danovich, notably it needs far less water and nitrogen fertilizer. But average U.S. sorghum yields over the past three years are 40 percent of corn’s average, while farm-gate prices for sorghum are slightly lower than corn. Danovich says an herbicide-tolerant conventionally bred sorghum variety could be on the market next year. Some plant breeders are working on a perennial strain of sorghum.