New lines of sorghum cultivars free of tannin have made the grain more digestible and therefore easier to substitute for corn, according to a study by USDA’s Economic Research Service.
The study found a high rate of substitution between sorghum and corn, especially among risk-averse feed producers between September 2017 and June 2023, for which data on monthly prices were available for all the countries sampled. The ease of substitutability of corn for sorghum in feed formulas is easier now because of new lines of tannin-free sorghum cultivars that improved sorghum’s digestibility and, therefore, its substitutability with corn in livestock feed. The results of this study show that—whenever the price of sorghum fell below that of corn and in the presence of greater price risk for corn in global markets, as occurred following the Russia-Ukraine war, risk-averse producers would shift to sorghum. Countries that strongly showed this behavior are China, the United States, Egypt, and, to some degree, Mexico.
A similar pattern of substitution is seen in sorghum for soymeal, but this pattern primarily occurred for starter -and grower-feed. Finisher feeds tended to favor more corn and soymeal proportions in this study’s feed formulation results, as the focus is mostly on energy and protein at this final stage of broiler growth.
Overall, the study finds that sorghum offered a viable potential for increased use in broiler feed formulations. This could be important during times when global grain and oilseed markets are volatile, especially for some of the most common grains in feedstuffs—corn and wheat.
The United States has the potential to grow its markets for sorghum feed, especially in countries where demand for corn has rapidly grown in competition with other uses but also during times when global markets are uncertain.
