{"id":398824,"date":"2026-08-06T00:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T00:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398824\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T00:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T00:40:12","slug":"texas-tech-looks-to-position-itself-at-the-forefront-of-sorghum-research-august-2026-texas-tech-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398824\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Tech Looks to Position Itself at the Forefront of Sorghum Research | August 2026 | Texas Tech Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

The drought- and heat-resistant nature of sorghum make it an appealing rotational
\n crop, especially for cotton and cattle farmers in the Texas High Plains.<\/p>\n

\t\tCREATORS<\/p>\n

\"Portrait<\/p>\n

Texas Tech University<\/a> is set to host the 2026 Global Sorghum Conference<\/a> in September. It\u2019s the first time the event will be held in the United States and
\n comes as sorghum is garnering more attention across the country and around the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorghum isn\u2019t new \u2013 it\u2019s always had its place \u2013 but it is important now because of
\n the challenges we\u2019re facing where we have less rainfall and less resources,\u201d said
\n Krishna Jagadish<\/a>, professor and Thornton Distinguished Chair in the Department of Plant & Soil Science<\/a> in the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"TexasKrishna Jagadish<\/p>\n

Sorghum has historically been used in the U.S. as livestock feed for poultry, beef,
\n dairy and swine, serving as an alternative to corn-based feed. Sorghum can function
\n as a forage crop and the newly developed prussic acid-free sorghum provides several
\n advantages in addition to ensuring the safety of farmers\u2019 livestock.<\/p>\n

Sorghum has also played a major role in renewable ethanol fuel production.<\/p>\n

\u201cUse of sorghum in biofuel production is important for us to keep up with the environment
\n and times,\u201d Jagadish added.<\/p>\n

And while countries, especially in Asia and Africa, have been including sorghum in
\n their diet for centuries, the U.S. is starting to see more culinary interest in sorghum.<\/p>\n

The super grain, also considered an ancient whole grain, is packed with protein, fiber
\n and essential minerals. It\u2019s also gluten-free, making it appealing for those with
\n dietary restrictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s sorghum\u2019s distinctive biological characteristics that make it a unique
\n crop.<\/p>\n

Sorghum\u2019s roots run deep, allowing it to extract water from more soil layers underground.<\/p>\n

Jagadish adds that sorghum\u2019s leaves are also waxier than crops like corn or cotton.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the wax, the leaves reflect the light and the heat,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe
\n heat is being reflected away and not taken up by the plant, so less water is needed
\n to cool the plant.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, sorghum can thrive in drought-like conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sorghum also can be rotated with other crops to help reduce insects, weeds and diseases.
\n This can be especially helpful in a place like Texas where cotton is one of the most
\n produced crops and can be hard on the soil.<\/p>\n

Perhaps even better, sorghum stays green throughout its entire cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when the sorghum is ready to harvest, it\u2019s a beautiful green with a red tint
\n to the heads,\u201d Jagadish said. \u201cWhen you harvest and take off the grain, you cut the
\n straw and leave the straw on the ground. That nitrogen in the leaves becomes available
\n to the subsequent crop the farmer grows.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Sorghum<\/p>\n

Texas Tech hopes to help lead the future of sorghum research. In the last few years,
\n several research projects at the university, many led by Jagadish himself, have received
\n multi-million-dollar grants.<\/p>\n

In 2023, an interdisciplinary team directed by Jagadish received a $4.5 million grant
\n from the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Advancing Markets for Producers. The five-year
\n project is examining low-cost crops like sorghum as a means to strengthen economic
\n and environmental sustainability across the Texas High Plains.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking at a sorghum-cotton rotation with and without cover crops, and this
\n is exactly to prove the multi-functionality point of having sorghum in rotation with
\n cotton,\u201d Jagadish said. \u201cYou can improve soil health but may not require an additional
\n cover crop, and we want to demonstrate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of Jagadish\u2019s work with sorghum is meant to increase the crop\u2019s appeal to farmers.
\n Farmers are looking at factors like sorghum yield and market demand, both of which
\n can generally be less than cotton. It\u2019s a hard ask for farmers to include sorghum
\n as part of their rotation if they believe it isn\u2019t as helpful to their bottom line.<\/p>\n

Still, Jagadish is hopeful as he considers the future of sorghum.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the overall scheme of things in cotton country, where soil health
\n keeps going down, incorporating sorghum actually provides relief at a system level
\n through water use, productivity and sustainability,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what, in my
\n opinion, makes sorghum so interesting in a rotational system. There are just so many
\n benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The drought- and heat-resistant nature of sorghum make it an appealing rotational crop, especially for cotton and cattle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":["post-398824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}