Sorghum, like many grains, has a diversity of uses, including human consumption and animal feed.

Sorghum is used for human nutrition all over the world ( 2 , 6 , 7 , 10 ). Globally, over half of all sorghum is used for human consumption ( 7 ). It is a major crop for many poor farmers, especially in Africa, Central America, and South Asia ( 10 ). Grain sorghum is used for flours, porridges and side dishes, malted and distilled beverages, and specialty foods such as popped grain ( 3 , 10 ).

Sorghum is also considered to be a significant crop for animal feeds (3, 6, 7, 8, 10), and in the US this is the major use of the grain (2). Finely ground grains or high-tannin grains are less palatable to cattle. Due to its hard and waxy covering, the grains need to be processed by cracking, rolling, or grinding.(1, 2, 3). When processed the nutritional value of sorghum is comparable (but not equal) to maize (corn), so it requires supplementation of vitamin A(1, 2, 3, 8).

Grain sorghum is also used for silage, but it is not as commonly used as the sweet sorghum for this purpose (2). Sweet sorghums have higher silage yield, but grain sorghums have higher nutrition due to the grains, therefore sweet sorghum farmers may plant soybeans along with sorghum to raise the nutritional value of the silage (2).

Pasture - Cattle and sheep are freqently pastured on grain silage after harvest, but secondary growth produces prussic acid and may poison the animals, especially horses (2, 3).