The prospect of mountains of milo rotting on port docks has moved a handful of “Sorghum Belt” members of Congress to see if they can get their colleagues to care.
The grain, interchangeably known as milo or sorghum, is routinely delivered to third-world countries through Food for Peace, a program of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which was recently shuttered by the Trump Administration.
Because agricultural production here exceeds U.S. demand, the international need for sorghum has been a special boon for Kansas farmers.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran and Rep. Tracey Mann of Kansas were among those introducing legislation Monday that moves the food program under the umbrella of the Department of Agriculture which, so far, remains intact.
Both Moran and Mann see that support as critical to Kansas farmers.
“With the world facing a severe hunger crisis due to inflation, natural disasters, and global wars in Ukraine, Israel, and Yemen, Food for Peace is more important now than ever,” Rep. Mann said last summer.
Something as simple as keeping bellies full helps deter conflict, said Sen. Moran. “Food stability is essential to political stability, and our food aid programs help feed the hungry, bolster our national security and provide important markets for our farmers.”
The Food for Peace program purchases $2 billion worth of crops from U.S. farmers every year. In some states, USAID was their primary buyer.
Along with the elimination of Food for Peace is its sister program, Feed the Future, which goes towards agricultural research, of which Kansas State University is a leader. As of yet, its future remains grim, signaling the loss of valuable biosecurity research essential to warding off viruses and diseases.
There’s a strong self-interest in the Congressmen’s motives.
Kansas is the top producer of milo, or sorghum, producing about 53% of the nation’s crop. Of Kansas crops, sorghum represents 46% of acres planted, producing 185 million bushels.
The grain is drought- and heat-tolerant, increasingly important factors in Kansas. Compared to corn, sorghum seed is less expensive and uses less water, grown primarily as a dryland crop.
For the most part, the grain is used to feed livestock or used in the production of ethanol. About one-third of sorghum crops now go to the production of biofuels.
The “Sorghum Belt” extends from South Dakota through Kansas and down to southern Texas.
Kansas’ ties to Food for Peace run deep.
The program was the brainchild of Kansas farmer Peter O’Brien of Cheyenne County as a way to create new markets for excess grain as far back as the 1950s.
At the time, according to the Dole Institute, “U.S. agricultural surpluses reached alarming levels, and storage of excess grain cost the government millions of dollars per year — even as the food deteriorated and became inedible.”
