May 2026 - Collab - lists.millets2023.space

The utility of considering the ancient history of millets
by Don Osborn 13 Jun '26

13 Jun '26

From time to time, we've shared items about the history - ancient and modern - of millets. This is to help in understand both how we got to where we are today, and what dynamics might be in play as we adapt to changes in climate and economy. I'm also working (intermittently) on a short consideration of common names for the millets that came to Europe from Asia, which is useful background to any discussion of possible new marketing names for these mllets/ In this post, however, there are two different takes on the ancient movement of millets. 1. First, we know that several of the millets - namely foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and proso or broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) from what is now China, and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana) from the Sahel and East African highlands, respectively, plus sorghum, also from Africa - were among the earliest "globalized" crops. I've personally been fond of the image of a vast counterclockwise movement across continents. Well, I just came across a 2019 research publication that offers a more sophisticated mapping of this movement, along with those of rice, wheat, and barley. * A piece on the research article with quotes from the lead author, Prof. Xinyi Liu (Washington Univ.), and a very nice animated map of Eurasia and Africa: "Prehistoric food globalization spanned three millennia," by Gerry Everding, The Source (Washington University) February 5, 2019 https://source.washu.edu/2019/02/prehistoric-food-globalization-spanned-thr… ** The kicker from the article: "Peasant farmers began transforming diets across the OId World 7,000 years ago, study finds" ** An interesting quote from Prof. Liu: "The very fact that the ‘food globalization’ in prehistory spanned more than three thousand years indicates perhaps a major driver of the process was the perpetual needs of the poor rather than more ephemeral cultural choices of the powerful in the Neolithic and Bronze Age." * The research article itself: Xinyi Liu, Penelope J. Jones, Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, Harriet V. Hunt, Diane L. Lister, Ting An, Natalia Przelomska, Catherine J. Kneale, Zhijun Zhao, and Martin K. Jones. 2019. "From ecological opportunism to multi-cropping: Mapping food globalisation in prehistory." Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 206, Pages 21-28, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.12.017 ABSTRACT: "Many of today's major food crops are distributed worldwide. While much of this ‘food globalisation’ has resulted from modern trade networks, it has its roots in prehistory. In this paper, we examine cereal crops that moved long distances across the Old World between 5000 and 1500 BC. Drawing together recent archaeological evidence, we are now able to construct a new chronology and biogeography of prehistoric food globalisation. Here we rationalize the evidence for this process within three successive episodes: pre-5000 BC, between 5000 and 2500 BC, and between 2500 and 1500 BC. Each episode can be characterized by distinct biogeographical patterns, social drivers of the crop movements, and ecological constraints upon the crop plants. By 1500 BC, this process of food globalisation had brought together previously isolated agricultural systems, to constitute a new kind of agriculture in which the bringing together of local and exotic crops enables a new form of intensification." 2. Second, is a piece found by Gary Wietgrefe that focuses on how changing soil temperatures in East Asia during ancient times constrained and shifted areas suitable for millet cropping. (Although this is important research, I found it surprising that no mention was made of the species in question - either or both foxtail millet and proso millet; or if such precision was not possible, that might be so stated). * An oveview article: "Ancient soil temperatures may have steered millet farming across Neolithic East Asia," by Zhang Nannan (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Phys.org, 7 May 2026 https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ancient-soil-temperatures-millet-farming.html * The research article itself: Y. Lu, J. Ruan, R. Liu, J.D. Guedes, J. Wang, Y. Li, X. Wang, Y. Xu, L. Tan, J. Shang, S. Kang, & G. Dong. 2026. "Soil temperature fluctuations modulated millet agriculture evolution in Neolithic East Asia," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.) 123 (20) e2529151123, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2529151123 "Significance: Agriculture was the critical intermediary through which climate change influenced the trajectory of ancient civilizations, yet the mechanisms linking environmental shifts and early farming practices remain poorly delineated. In Neolithic East Asia, the spatiotemporal development of millet agriculture does not align with patterns of precipitation and air temperature alone. Here, we reconstruct Holocene growing-season soil temperature from biomarker proxies and indicate that mid-Holocene soil cooling likely compressed thermally suitable zones for millet cultivation, contributing to a southward displacement of farming and delaying large-scale agricultural expansion until subsequent warming. These results highlight the importance of growing-season soil temperature as a key climatic constraint operating alongside social and technological factors in shaping the trajectories of early millet agriculture." Full viewing of both research articles is paywalled, unless you have access via an institution. Nevertheless, it is worth the time to look at what is freely accessible, as linked above. Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Press release: "Not Enough Fertilizer this Year? Consider Millets"
by Don Osborn 03 Jun '26

03 Jun '26

For IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4, 2026 *North American Millets Alliance* *Not Enough Fertilizer this Year? Consider Millets* If fertilizer is scarce or unavailable for corn, what are planting options? Have you considered any of the millets? Replacing corn with soybeans is the most logical choice, but buildup of cyst nematodes prohibits replanting soybeans on last year’s soybean ground. Land prices and cropland rent are too high to leave ground idle. Just as costly is fallow syndrome if the ground is kept bare. Cover crops are a better option than black fallow. It may be best to plant a species of millet for grain or forage. Millets need fertilizer like any other crop. However, they are excellent nutrient scavengers, so application rates are only a fraction of that needed for corn. A general recommendation is that fifty pounds of nitrogen is removed per ton of forage. * *Pearl millet*, a tall, high-protein leafy grass, can break the nematode cycle. Economically planted at two to ten pound per acre in rows or drilled in narrow rows, pearl millet can be cut multiple times for forage, grazed through first frost without fears of prussic acid, or could be left as a cover crop over the winter. Corn Belt farmers should consider *Japanese millet* or *Chiwapa millet*, a variety of the closely related billion-dollar grass, for grain or forage. Chiwapa can take wet ground better than Japanese, although both are better in this regard than most other millets. Unlike pearl millet, which regrows after cutting, Japanese and Chiwapa should only be cut once. These crops could be harvested as a food grain, but finding processors may be a challenge, and the potential specialty market for the grains (typically under the name, barnyard millet) is limited. *Teff* is an extremely small-seeded millet that can be harvested for grain, or used as an excellent, leafy forage crop. The U.S. market for teff as a food grain is increasing, but buyers are limited – much of teff grain production is grown under contract. At over a million seeds per pound, if harvesting teff for grain, best have holes plugged on your grain truck. Don’t want a four-to-five-foot forage crop like pearl millet? The shorter *brown top millet* and *foxtail millet* are excellent for wildlife, as cover crops, and make nutritious forage. Grains from either of these millets can be used as a food grain or potentially exported, but commercial-scale U.S. food processing is not available. The best grain millet currently in North America, and the poorest forage millet, is *proso millet*. About a half-million acres of proso grain are harvested every year in the U.S. Food uses for proso grain in the U.S. and Canada, as well as exports, continue to expand, although most proso is currently used as wild bird food. Proso has a slightly higher feed value than corn in poultry rations, and it can be ground for cattle and hog feeds. All millets can be used to produce ethanol, but proso is comparable to corn. Fertilizer recommendations for proso grain are based on University of Nebraska soil test zero-to-eight-inch depth for all nutrients except nitrogen where a subsoil sample from 30 to 36 inches is recommended. *Fertilizer Recommendation for Proso Millet Grain*** [ FOR TABLE - SEE ATTACHED FULL PRESS RELEASE ] *Soil Fertility Management for Forage Crops: Maintenance, Nitrogen Management for Grasses, Penn State Extension, August 19, 2025. **Fertilizing Proso Millet (NebGuide G1945), University of Nebraska, May 2009.

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JKM on "Millets make sense as water becomes scarce"
by Don Osborn 09 May '26

09 May '26

NAMA co-founder Joni Kindwall-Moore has a guest column in the Capital Press (Salem, OR) on the potential role of millets in our food system in the wake of drier and hotter conditions: "Millets make sense as water becomes scarce," 5 May 2026 https://capitalpress.com/2026/05/05/millets-make-sense-as-water-become-scar… Joni notes that while the agronomic case (or cases, really) for millets are well known, the systems for processing and marketing grain millets, as well as current consumer demand, are still limited. Based on her experience, she further outlines some steps that can be taken to address these gaps. Thank you, Joni, for this call to action! Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Quiz: Identifying millets in an image
by Don Osborn 05 May '26

05 May '26

Attached is an image with details from a photo of three different packages of millets. Can you identify the millets in the left, center, and right of the image? Hint #1: There are only two species of millet involved. Hint #2: One of those species is present in two distinct varieties. (You are not asked to make that distinction.) I'll follow with another hint later, and then share the original photo and details. Motive for this: I'd like to get some unbiased takes on their identity. TIA, Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Re: Quiz: Identifying millets in an image
by Don Osborn 05 May '26

05 May '26

Thank you again, Gary. You are correct that the vertical black characters on the packages identify the millets. (By the way, the English-language ingredient in all three is identical: "Processed millet.") For information here is what it says on all three packages: Left: 东北大黃米 (dōngběi dà huáng mǐ) = Northeast (China) "da huang mi" Center: 山西糯小米 (Shānxī nuò xiǎomǐ) = Shanxi waxy "xiaomi" Right: 山西小米 (Shānxī xiǎomǐ) = Shanxi "xiaomi" By the labels, yes, the right two should be the varieties of the same millet, even as the left two appear similar. * Da huang mi (big yellow "hulled grain") is proso, per my sources. * Xiaomi (small "hulled grain") is foxtail millet, again per my sources. However "xiaomi" seems to be also used more generically, perhaps as an influence from English "millet." (Caveat: My Chinese language knowledge is very limited.) * Shanxi is a province in northern China * Nuò, as is apparent, is the word for waxy / sticky / glutinous * Mǐ usually means (hulled) rice, but also has a wider meaning that I interpret as staple grain (again, without claiming any depth in the language) With this, I'll shift to replying to Dipak's response. Don DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Sun, May 3, 2026 at 10:23 PM <gww374(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks for details and more clues by including the Chinese writing of what > I assume identifies the type of millet. Since the symbols are the same > except the center has more one extra character, I now guess the center and > right are the same type millet just different varieties. > > The germ appears darker than proso that we eat, so I don’t think either is > proso…..Gary > > Sent from my iPhone > > On May 3, 2026, at 9:04 AM, Don Osborn <don(a)milletsalliance.org> wrote: > > > Thanks, Gary, for your reply. I realize that I should have put something > in this image to give the scale. The image is not that close up. Also, > these are of millets packaged in the US under a Chinese label. > > I apologize fot the third one being a bit out of focus. I took several > images of three packages in a store on an iPhone camera (they're tolerant > of me taking pictures of items), and had to work with the angle to avoid > casting a shadow from the overhead lights, and minimize the reflection off > the wrinkles in the cellophane packaging. A consequence is that the third > package (with the smaller grains) was on the edge of focus - and I didn't > realize it at the time. > > Attached is the full photo, at 33% since the original is 6 mb (a bit large > to dump in folks' inboxes). I can send the original offlist to you or > anyone who might want to examine more closely. Btw, the previous composite > image was made with sections from the 100% original. > > DO, EL, MI, US > NAMA > > > On Sat, May 2, 2026 at 5:21 PM Gary Wietgrefe <gww374(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> Good quiz. I only have been eating proso and the germ is lighter color >> and hulled seed more round and whitish yellow. No samples are pearl or >> finger. My guess is that the left and center are two varieties of foxtail >> and the right (blurry sample) is smaller seed and likely little millet. >> Thanks for the opportunity....Gary Wietgrefe >> >> On Sat, May 2, 2026 at 12:17 PM Don Osborn via Collab < >> collab(a)lists.millets2023.space> wrote: >> >>> Attached is an image with details from a photo of three different >>> packages >>> of millets. Can you identify the millets in the left, center, and right >>> of >>> the image? >>> >>> Hint #1: There are only two species of millet involved. >>> >>> Hint #2: One of those species is present in two distinct varieties. (You >>> are not asked to make that distinction.) >>> >>> I'll follow with another hint later, and then share the original photo >>> and >>> details. >>> >>> Motive for this: I'd like to get some unbiased takes on their identity. >>> >>> TIA, >>> >>> Don Osborn, PhD >>> (East Lansing, MI, US) >>> North American Millets Alliance >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Collab mailing list -- collab(a)lists.millets2023.space >>> To unsubscribe send an email to collab-leave(a)lists.millets2023.space >>> >> >> >> -- >> Author, Gary W. Wietgrefe, >> https://www.RelatingtoAncients.com/ >> Enjoy Wietgrefe's (pronounced "wit' grif") dozen books, patents, and >> international research on millets, agronomy, cultural changes, travel >> adventure, poetry, and history. >> > <3ChineseMillets-33pc.png> > <3ChineseMillets-33pc.png> > >

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