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‘Sorghum ethanol’ is a topic in Nebraska

Sorghum Field Days are being held at six locations in Nebraska this week.  One of the stops will be the John Dvoracek farm near Farwell, where there are more than 50 sorghum varieties planted in test plots.

“I even have some cellulosic sorghum that’s planted there—that’s kind of neat to see,” Dvoracek says.  “It’s similar to sweet sorghum but yet a little bit different.  They feel that they can probably get a little bit better yield for ethanol out of it than what they could just using a plain sweet sorghum.

“Some of those sorghums are probably 12 to 15 feet tall,” he says. “There’s one in there that, if it wouldn’t freeze until November, it may not start heading until November and it could possibly be 20 feet tall.”

Dvoracek, who serves on both the state and national sorghum checkoff boards, thinks ethanol production could become a big market for sorghum in the future.

“You compare the sweet sorghums to sugar cane, which they use to make ethanol out of down in Brazil—sweet sorghums will produce a lot more sugar and starches than what sugar cane will,” Dvoracek says. “And sorghums are very water efficient—they can do a really good job that way as far as producing ethanol.”

An ethanol plant representative will be at the field days to discuss new market opportunities.  Field day locations include Boelus, Farwell, Hazard, Trenton, Orleans and Blue Hill.

AUDIO: John Dvoracek (3:37 MP3)