The Fence Post, a "nationwide agricultural newspaper reaching over 80,000 readers each week," which is based in Greeley, Colorado, ran this press release in its May 11, 2026 issue: https://www.thefencepost.com/news/not-enough-fertilizer-this-year-consider-millets/
Thank you, Gary, for the pointer!! DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Tue, May 5, 2026 at 12:26 PM Don Osborn <[email protected]> wrote: > We felt that this press release on the potential of millets was timely in > the wake of reports that the rise in fertilizer prices is leading to some > farmers in the US deciding not to plant as much this year. See, for > example, this article in Forbes based on a Farm Bureau survey: > > "70% Of Farmers Can’t Afford To Grow All Their Crops," by Erik Sherman, > Forbes, Apr 28, 2026 > https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2026/04/28/70-of-farmers-cant-afford-to-grow-all-their-crops/ > > Timing is also important, given where we are already in the planting > calendar. > > With fertilizer being an issue, against the backdrop of hotter and drier > conditions in much of the continent, it seems like a good time to focus > attention on millets. There are no miracles here, of course, but millets, > with their diverse advantages, seem made for the moment. > > Another piece to the picture is the marketing and consumer side - how can > grain millets, beginning with proso which is already grown for food in > North America - be made more attractive as a go to in our food culture(s)? > > DO, EL, MI, US > NAMA > > > On Mon, May 4, 2026 at 12:58 AM Don Osborn <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> For IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4, 2026 >> >> *North American Millets Alliance* >> >> >> >> >> >> *Not Enough Fertilizer this Year? Consider Millets* >> >> >> >> >> >> If fertilizer is scarce or unavailable for corn, what are planting >> options? Have you considered any of the millets? >> >> >> >> Replacing corn with soybeans is the most logical choice, but buildup of >> cyst nematodes prohibits replanting soybeans on last year’s soybean ground. >> >> >> >> Land prices and cropland rent are too high to leave ground idle. Just as >> costly is fallow syndrome if the ground is kept bare. Cover crops are a >> better option than black fallow. It may be best to plant a species of >> millet for grain or forage. >> >> >> >> Millets need fertilizer like any other crop. However, they are excellent >> nutrient scavengers, so application rates are only a fraction of that >> needed for corn. A general recommendation is that fifty pounds of nitrogen >> is removed per ton of forage. * >> >> >> >> *Pearl millet*, a tall, high-protein leafy grass, can break the nematode >> cycle. Economically planted at two to ten pound per acre in rows or drilled >> in narrow rows, pearl millet can be cut multiple times for forage, grazed >> through first frost without fears of prussic acid, or could be left as a >> cover crop over the winter. >> >> >> >> Corn Belt farmers should consider *Japanese millet* or *Chiwapa millet*, >> a variety of the closely related billion-dollar grass, for grain or forage. >> Chiwapa can take wet ground better than Japanese, although both are better >> in this regard than most other millets. Unlike pearl millet, which regrows >> after cutting, Japanese and Chiwapa should only be cut once. These crops >> could be harvested as a food grain, but finding processors may be a >> challenge, and the potential specialty market for the grains (typically >> under the name, barnyard millet) is limited. >> >> >> >> *Teff* is an extremely small-seeded millet that can be harvested for >> grain, or used as an excellent, leafy forage crop. The U.S. market for teff >> as a food grain is increasing, but buyers are limited – much of teff grain >> production is grown under contract. At over a million seeds per pound, if >> harvesting teff for grain, best have holes plugged on your grain truck. >> >> >> >> Don’t want a four-to-five-foot forage crop like pearl millet? The shorter >> *brown >> top millet* and *foxtail millet* are excellent for wildlife, as cover >> crops, and make nutritious forage. Grains from either of these millets can >> be used as a food grain or potentially exported, but commercial-scale U.S. >> food processing is not available. >> >> >> The best grain millet currently in North America, and the poorest forage >> millet, is *proso millet*. About a half-million acres of proso grain are >> harvested every year in the U.S. Food uses for proso grain in the U.S. and >> Canada, as well as exports, continue to expand, although most proso is >> currently used as wild bird food. Proso has a slightly higher feed value >> than corn in poultry rations, and it can be ground for cattle and hog feeds. >> >> >> >> All millets can be used to produce ethanol, but proso is comparable to >> corn. >> >> >> >> Fertilizer recommendations for proso grain are based on University of >> Nebraska soil test zero-to-eight-inch depth for all nutrients except >> nitrogen where a subsoil sample from 30 to 36 inches is recommended. >> >> >> >> *Fertilizer Recommendation for Proso Millet Grain*** >> >> [ FOR TABLE - SEE ATTACHED FULL PRESS RELEASE ] >> >> >> >> *Soil Fertility Management for Forage Crops: Maintenance, Nitrogen >> Management for Grasses, Penn State Extension, August 19, 2025. >> >> **Fertilizing Proso Millet (NebGuide G1945), University of Nebraska, May >> 2009. >> >> >> -- Collab mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
