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How an insulation company can increase specialty sorghum acres

A Texas insulation company expanding its footprint is giving Kansas and Nebraska sorghum farmers an opportunity to add value to their crop.

CEO Tom Martin with Milo Insulation says he pays sorghum producers a specialty rate for growing specific varieties that are made into insulation. “The dots include raw material factory and expansion of extrusion plants because the concept is to have a raw material factory to have farmers to deliver to that produces natural resin. The natural resin is then shipped to major marketing areas where an extrusion plant turns it into finished insulation and sells it and installs it.”

He says expanding raw material plants can decrease expenses for farmers, while his company can gain a larger footprint. “Growers would be delivering in a closer location. Most of our growers have their own storage.  We do have buying points, but most of them have their own storage and they put the product in storage and then market it to us at their own leisure.”

South Central Nebraska farmer Scott Nelson tells Brownfield more companies need to invest in value-added sorghum crops because there are few market opportunities in his area. “There are options. There’s pet places that will take it, but it gets a little bit pricing – the shipping in our area.”

And, he says “There’s some areas in Central Nebraska that don’t have the access that we would like and some of the elevators.  It’s not just grown widely enough in certain parts of the state for the elevators to have certain facilities to handle it.”

Brownfield interviewed Nelson and Martin at the Nebraska Sorghum Product Showcase.

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