Kenya Sorghum Feeding Trial Creates Interest In U.S. Sorghum

Jul 06, 2022

Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Quality Sampling Program (QSP), the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) procured and shipped 60 metric tons (MT) (2,362 bushels) of U.S. sorghum to Mombasa, Kenya, in late 2020. Over the subsequent 12 months, the Council implemented a series of poultry feeding trials to demonstrate how U.S. sorghum performs as an alternative energy source that can reduce overall formulation cost – the first step toward
opening the market to regular sales.

While sorghum use in animal feeds is common in many markets in which the Council operates, it has been seldom used in Kenya due to the industry’s lack of familiarity with the product. The Council’s sorghum trials set out to demonstrate to the commercial feed industry in Kenya the quality, benefits, and performance of U.S. sorghum when included in poultry diets.

The poultry trials were conducted in partnership with Unga Farm Care, one of the largest commercial feed manufacturers in East Africa, in Nairobi, Kenya. Two separate trials, one broiler (meat) and one layer (egg), were conducted, showcasing U.S. sorghum’s performance as a replacement for local white corn.

As part of the trial, 3,200 layers and 5,000 broilers were placed on a poultry farm 60 miles outside of Nairobi in February 2021. The birds were monitored daily for 51 weeks to track performance. The corn and the sorghum diet trial birds had similar growth, live weights, health and egg production, effectively
demonstrating that sorghum can serve as an alternative energy source in both broiler and layer feed rations without compromising performance, which had been a concern of the industry.

Kenya’s feed industry is largely dependent on local white corn, which is the most commonly used energy source in poultry feed rations. Due to inconsistency in supply and quality, the Kenyan feed industry often must turn to its neighboring countries, namely Tanzania and Uganda, for corn imports. Feed costs in Kenya have been on the rise in recent years, largely due to the high cost of feed ingredients led by white corn, which can account for up to 80 percent of the cost of production. The Council’s feeding trials have resulted in the Kenyan industry making inquiries about how to procure U.S. sorghum.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.