Until recently, I had never even heard of the word “sorghum”. Imagine my surprise when I found out that it’s one of the 10 most important global crops. I figured my ignorance was due to its cultivation in some remote part of the world. Nope. The leading producer of sorghum on Earth is… The United States of America. So what is sorghum exactly? Let’s find out, because I had no idea.

The origins of sorghum trace back to Africa in the Upper Nile somewhere near 8000 B.C.E.. Credit for its first domestication comes a few thousand years later (7000 – 5000 B.C.E.) in the Niger River valley. It is a species of grass, considered a cereal crop similar to wheat. Sorghum has been grown and consumed all over the world for a very long time, making me even more astonished that I had never heard of it.

Like wheat, sorghum is used to make bread in many parts of Asia and Africa. Like corn, the grains can be popped into something with which I would be familiar. Perhaps if I had food allergies I would have been more aware, as sorghum is gluten-free. Even though Native Americans always had corn (maize) available, today sorghum is used in a similar fashion in many parts of Central and South America.

Humans have figured out how to make alcohol out of all kinds of things, and sorghum is no exception. In China, they ferment and distill it into a clear spirit called baijiu, which I understand is comparable to whiskey. In places like Zimbabwe, Burundi, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Nigeria, sorghum is used to make a dark beer. Go Africa!

In place of corn, sorghum is also used as a base for ethanol and feed for livestock, especially in the production-leading United States. The next highest producing countries are Nigeria, India, Mexico, Sudan, and Australia. How have I never heard of this?

According to this map from the USDA, sorghum is grown in South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. It looks like Texas alone grows more than almost any other place on the planet. I have quite a few Texan friends who won’t hesitate to tell you how great their state is. I have never heard any stories about being “The Sorghum Capital of the World”, however.