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Sorghum United on the BBC
by Sorghum United 16 Jun '24

16 Jun '24

Greetings, fello millets advocates. I thought you may be interested to see the conversation that Sorghum United had on the BBC World News this past Monday. Enjoy: https://youtu.be/ebQN3rNQlxU nate-blum-bbcw-10-jun-24-0734-6OL.mp4 <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fPJaF_YScvm6yC_A4RphNYklNjOtslnd/view?usp=…> -- *Nate Blum* Chief Executive Officer Sorghum United +1 402 802 1850 sorghumunited(a)gmail.com

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Official Request, Seeking Importers of Millets from NAMA.
by saiway_in＠outlook.com 16 Jun '24

16 Jun '24

Hii NAMA Team, Good day to you!!! We would like to introduce “SAIWAY INTERNATIONAL” which has come a long way ever since its establishment in the year 2015, and has established a strong foothold in the market. We have come to be recognized as an eminent Manufacturer, Supplier and Exporter of Millets and Millets Value Products Now, we are focusing to develop business in Being our valuable representative in a North America We need your help / support to establish new trade relationship with North America So we request you to kindly provide us details of the Buyers, Importers, Wholesalers, Companies and Traders related to below mentioned items to communicate with them and to establish new business relationship. Kindly Revert We are forwarding below our company details for your kind reference. COMPANY PROFILE: Business Type : Exporter, Supplier, Export Perce80ntage : 100% Primary Competitive Advantages : Superlative quality, Competitive prices, timely Delivery, Customer oriented approach Annual Production Capacity : 800 Tons / month Product Range : Millets and Millet Value Products Membership : Registered Exporter under Govt. of India DGFT, FIEO, MSME-UDYAM, FSSAI, Global LINKER and USFDA Facility Registered. Focused Industries : Manufacturer, Traders & Exporters of Millets, Fruits We look forward to receive your earliest and positive reply and the details. Best Regards, SAIWAY INTERNATIONAL Chinmay Salimath(Dir) Ph:7760396183/7892540270 saiway_in@outlook.com/connectus@saiway-international.com www.saiway-international.com<http://www.saiway-international.com> EXPORTING EXCELLENECE WORLDWIDE [cid:f0ba43e3-a870-41b0-8933-5f9ea657c0a0] [cid:12ea91c1-2898-492c-992e-ec93a021c5ce] [cid:b6877e13-e578-4016-814e-a75794963c51] [cid:fccd370e-437c-4f88-85b8-af4c276ca34f] [cid:3e07ed29-bdce-441b-9e15-525064d05d71] [cid:7581d4fb-30eb-477f-b37b-c00b094c2cf3] [cid:013ed6b4-04f3-459c-91f3-43ab0fcd459c]

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Webinar on sorghum in school meals, 6/20/2024, 3 pm EDT
by Don Osborn 12 Jun '24

12 Jun '24

The School Nutrition Association (SNA), with the support of United Sorghum Checkoff, will hold a webinar on Thursday, 20 June 2024 (3-4:30 pm EDT) entitled "Unlocking the Power of Sorghum: A Sustainable Supergrain for School Meals." (There is a fee for participation by non-SNA members - at end of this email) For a description (summarized below) and to register, see: https://training.schoolnutrition.org/courses/69242/webinars/45983 Key points: * Sorghum is portrayed as being "set to revolutionize the school foodservice world" * The webinar will cover the "nutritional, sustainable, and culinary benefits of sorghum" as well as its history, growth in the US, and how it can "enhance school meals" Presenters: * Chase Obenchain, Corporate Chef Consultant, Sorghum Checkoff * Lillian Barnett, Child Nutrition Director, Florence Independent School District (Texas) * Lanier Dabruzzi, MS, RD, LD, Director of Nutrition & Food Innovation, Sorghum Checkoff Learning objectives of the webinar (quoted from the info/registration page): 1. Review sorghum's nutrition and health attributes as it applies to K12 school aged children. 2. Explore forms, cooking methods and applications of whole grain sorghum can be used for school foodservice use. 3. Review best practices and examples of introduction of sorghum to staff and students. CEU credit is offered for those in continuing education. This "Training Zone" webinar is free for SNA members, For non-members, full access to one webinar is $20 (per https://schoolnutrition.org/conferences-events/event-calendar/webinar-faqs/ ). Annual membership dues, should you be interested, range from $20-143, depending on professional status (per https://schoolnutrition.org/sna-news/sna-important-update-national-member-d… ). NAMA is not connected with SNA, and recieves no consideraton for any subscriptions purchased (boilerplate disclaimer). Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Joyfull Millets, with finger millet, sorghum & pearl millet
by Don Osborn 08 Jun '24

08 Jun '24

The "Joyfull Millets" muesli line/1 launched recently by Tata Consumer Products in the US/2 and Canada/3 may be the first attempt to mass market products with finger millet and pearl millet in North America. (These mueslis also include sorghum as well as some other grains.) While NAMA advocates for all #millets, and does not promote any brand above others, this effort represents an interesting case study. Aside from flavor, a selling point of these products is that the pieces made with millets tend to preserve their crunchiness longer than other typical muesli ingredients. In the three Joyfull Millets flavors - Fruit & Nut, Honey & Nut, and Choco & Nut - include 10-11% #fingermillet flour, 7.8-8.8% #sorghum flour, and 5.8% #pearlmillet flour./4 Other grains included are oats, rice, wheat, and corn (the last 2 not in the Choco product). Finger & pearl millets are imported in consumer goods (grains, flour & processed foods) to this region from India, but are available only in specialty stores, and generally not marketed widely. Sorghum, which one may group with the millets, is grown for food-grade grain in North America, which can be obtained in some major market chains. Proso millet and teff, also grown in the region, are also sold in some major grocery stores, as is fonio, imported from West Africa. Tata Consumer Products is an Indian multinational. Its US office is in New Jersey,/5 and the Canadian one is in Ontario./6 The company has also launched Joyfull Millets in the UK. Note on marketing: The identity of the millets in Joyfull Millets is not featured in publicity, and required some research to determine. Tata might consider at least featuring these three millets, and what makes them nutritionally interesting, in its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page./7 Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance Notes: 1. https://joyfullmillet.com/ 2. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tata-consumer-products-usa_foodcpg-newproduc… 3. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/tata-consumer-products-launches-joyfu… 4. Per ingredients lists via https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/shop/food-cupboard/cereals/muesli/all… 5. https://www.linkedin.com/company/tata-consumer-products-usa/ 6. https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.tata_consumer_produ… 7. https://joyfullmillet.com/pages/faq

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Proso Millet Survey
by Joni Kindwall-Moore 07 Jun '24

07 Jun '24

Hello everyone, I am assessing the availability of stored proso millet in the US. I have created a simple form to help collect the information. I will be doing the survey quarterly and the information not be shared without permission. Please feel free to share with your network. https://forms.gle/cBRdX7tXghBLyrw89 Thanks *Joni Kindwall-Moore BSN-RN, BA* Founder, Innovator, Mother, Nurse, Activist *P: 406-334-1608* *www.snacktivistfoods.com <http://www.snacktivistfoods.com/>* *Scan this QR code to experience the Snacktivist Nation! *

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Production of millets in global perspective (2 diagrams)
by Don Osborn 01 Jun '24

01 Jun '24

A couple of images of possible interest. The first is a square (pie) chart showing the relative harvested area for the world's crops. It was done by Benjamin Nowak, and can be seen at https://github.com/BjnNowak/TidyTuesday/blob/main/world_crops.png It is organized by botanical family, which itself is interesting, at least to some of us. When it comes to millets, however, we run into a familiar problem: they're collapsed under the title of one box - "millet," with the exception of sorghum, which of course is by itself the 5th most produced grain by volume. To be fair, dividing the "millet" box would result in some vey small boxes. Also - and this certainly is the overriding factor - the FAOStat data cited for this diagram does not For perspective, note the tiny box in the lower right for buckwheat (family, Polygonaceae). The two other pseudo cereals, quinoa and amaranth, would be in the box with sugar beets (family, Amaranthaceae). The second item, which is not nearly so ambitious, is the attached pie chart of relative production of millets, including sorghum. This is the second version of something I did earlier, but with only the two approximate figures that are documented - those for annual production of sorghum and pearl millet in millions of metric tons (depending on the grain, 1 mT ranges between about 36-46 bushels). There is a rough formula for the rest, for which I used variables and simple equations, so as not to give the impression that my guesses would have actual meaning. Sorghum grain production (around 60-70 million mT/yr) is said to be about twice that of all other millets, and pearl millet (around 14-15 million mT/yr) is said to be equal to that of the remaining millets combined. I recently saw 1909s figures estimating finger millet production to be about 3 mill. mT/yr. Also, the production ranking of the top 5 millets is: sorghum, pearl millet, foxtail millet, proso millet, and finger millet. From that we can construct a pie chart showing approximate relative production of millets. But yes, I'd like to get some good figures and redo the chart. Comments welcome of course, and please pass on (links to) any similar efforts you may have access to. Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Second order effects of millets as new crops on farming systems (example of swath grazing)
by Don Osborn 01 Jun '24

01 Jun '24

One of the interesting aspects of the introduction of various millets into the agriculture of this continent, is the diverse new ways they are used, and the effect these in turn have on farming systems. In other words, growing millets may turn out to be more than just swapping in a different crop and adjusting to its season and requirements. Previously on this list, we've mentioned the unanticipated role of pearl millet - a major crop of the Sahel and dryland parts of India - in potato farming in eastern Canada. It turns out that pearl millet in rotation can suppress certain nematodes that are problems for potatoes. And it has this effect in only one rotation, as opposed to at least two seasons with other crops. (We'll have to come back to this another time.) In an entirely different context - raising beef cattle - a combination of forage sorghum and pearl millet are being tried in a winter swath grazing system in Iowa. Swath grazing involves cutting and laying forage crops in windrows for grazing during the winter./1.This is an alternative to keeping cattle indoors all winter, and bringing in feed and taking out manure during all that time. As such, it represents a significant savings in time and resources. Among the crops typically grown in the swath system are barley, oats, corn, and triticale./2 The project with forage sorghum and pearl millet has been undertaken (apparently over 5 years now) by Dr. Garland Dahlke, Iowa Beef Center and Iowa State University, with David Bruene, Beef Teaching Herd Superintendent, Iowa State University./3 /4 /5 What I found interesting from a recent podcast interview about this project that I happened on last week,/6 was that the root structures of sorghum and pearl millet held up better under the hooves of cattle than those of corn in a similar setting. This was an observation of the researchers, mentioned in the podcast (sorry, don't have a timestamp on this, but it was midway though) - basically there weren't muddy spots in the field where the cattle were grazing. So a question I have is whether this characteristic of these crops might be a significant advantage for swath grazing, in terms of removing what sounds like a downside of this system (effect of cattle's hooves on soil cover). This is beyond my ex[pertise so please pardon the quality of the explanations and reasoning. However the basic dynamic of "second order effects" of a new crop in an existing set of farming practices seems valid. A prominent example - although with a key difference - is the lower water requirement of millets, meaning less need to irrigate. The difference is that a millet might be grown in some cases precisely *because* its water needs are less, rather than that being a discovery from working with the millet crop on a farm as in the above examples. Much is made of the revolutionary potential of technology in farming (per "fourth agricultural revolution," for example/7), but could one argue that an older style revolution is happening concurrently with the spread of crops like millets to regions where they were previously unknown? Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance Notes: 1. "Swath Grazing," South Dakota State University Extension, Updated January 09, 2023 https://extension.sdstate.edu/swath-grazing 2. BaronVern S., DoceRaquel R., BasarabJohn, and DickCampbell. 2014. Swath grazing triticale and corn compared to barley and a traditional winter feeding method in central Alberta. *Canadian Journal of Plant Science*. *94*(7): 1125-1137. https://doi.org/10.4141/cjps2013-412 3. Dahlke, G. R., (2022) “Swath Grazing Forage Sorghum and Pearl Millet Observations Regarding Quality and Utilization as Winter Feed”, Iowa State University Animal Industry Report 18(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/air.12602 [NB- the actual paper, linked as PDF, carries a 2021 year] 4. "Swath grazing can help use forage, farm ground," by Jennifer Carrico, Farm Progress, 14 April 2023 https://www.farmprogress.com/livestock/swath-grazing-can-help-use-forage-fa… 5. "Swath grazing, A Winter feed option," ISU Extension and Outreach - Crops Team, YouTube, 22 Sep. 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkHHYnYGe2o (53:42) 6. "Swath Grazing Sorghum-Sudangrass and Pearl Millet as an Alternative to Feeding Cows Baled Hay in the Winter," UNL BeefWatch (podcast), 9 May 2024 https://www.audacy.com/podcast/unl-beefwatch-c36d5/episodes/swath-grazing-s… or https://podcasts.apple.com/ar/podcast/swath-grazing-sorghum-sudangrass-and-… (~37 min.) 7. David Rose and Charlotte-Anne Chivers, "The fourth agricultural revolution is coming – but who will really benefit?" The Conversation, 14 Sep. 2020 https://theconversation.com/the-fourth-agricultural-revolution-is-coming-bu…

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Brands of finger millet flour
by Don Osborn 31 May '24

31 May '24

As we close out the month of May, here's one more post on finger millet, our millet-of-tjhe-month, here's an article about finger millet flour. Entitled "10 Finger Millet Powders!", and written by Trinity Sparke, it appeared earlier this month on the website of the New York based organization, One Green Planet. See https://www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/10-finger-millet-powders/ This compiled list is notable for two reasons. First, it is a rare attempt to disambiguate what for many is a new food, marketed by unfamiliar companies. Second, since one of the 10 items listed is actually proso millet flour (#5, from Bob's Red Mill), this is another example of how challenging writing about millets can be for non-specialists. Still, it is a positive effort overall. To arrive back at the number 10, however, I'd suggest adding Bliss Tree USA's finger millet flour: https://bliss-tree.us/products/ragi-finger-millet-flour-1?variant=400013078… Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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On-Demand Viewing - International Conversation on Small Scale-Mechanization in Cultivation, Irrigation, and Value Addition
by Sorghum United 27 May '24

27 May '24

Missed Sorghum United's International Conversation on Small-Scale Mechanization? #noworries, we have the ENTIRE event recorded and available by session for your #ondemandviewing! Session 1: Opening Comments and Small-Scale Mechanization in Value-Addition: https://youtu.be/ccL9tuWbtjk Session 2: Panel Discussion of Challenges in Asia, East and West Africa, the Caribbean, and South America: https://youtu.be/d3w1GgTQ3qE Session 3: Small-Scale Mechanization in Irrigation: https://youtu.be/arikYxtrP3A Session 4: Small-Scale Mechanization in Cultivation and Financing Considerations: https://youtu.be/udruiKZ97WY Look for more #conversations bringing together #stakeholders around the globe to #solve these, the greatest #challenges in #agriculture, #sustainably and with #human #Empowerment in the future. -- *Nate Blum* Chief Executive Officer Sorghum United +1 402 802 1850 sorghumunited(a)gmail.com

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Teas or tisanes made with millets
by Don Osborn 27 May '24

27 May '24

Millet tea is hardly a hot topic for today's Memorial Day holiday (US), but I'll post this under cover of last Tuesday's International Tea Day (5/21). The topic of beverages made with millets has come up periodically on this list, and of course our Millets Webinar last September featuring Twila Soles (Grouse Malt House) on beer from millet(s) and Sujala Balaji (Rainfed Foods) on milk from millets: https://youtu.be/RgkSnqIeHAU . However, we did not broach the topic of teas or tisanes made with millets. Infusions made with one grain or several grains are a thing. Sometimes called grain teas, there are specialists who maintain that these are technically tisanes, a term for infusions not involving leaves of tea plants. (Herbal teas are also technically tisanes.) See: The point is somewhat confused by the inclusion of tea leaf powder in some mixes with grains. In any event, the grains are ground, sometimes after roasting. Personally, my only venture into this space has been barley tea in Korean restaurants. However, it seems one can use just about any grain can be used in this manner, and an online search on "grain tea" or on specific grains will give you an idea. And there are mixes - I saw one boasting 15 grains. (There comes a point where one wonders what the incremental value is of adding a little bit of one more to the mix - reminded of some multigrain breads.) Of course millets are in this space too, even if not in a big way (yet?). Part of what prompted me to post on this was a social media mention of finger millet tea (finger millet or ragi being our millet of the month in May): https://www.mystore.in/en/product/ragi-tea-and-forest-honey-combo?seller=64… Finger millet tea can be made from prepared products such as the above, or using the grains, either toasted or roasted like in this video explainer (note that the roasting gives rise to "coffee" as another metaphor for this infusion), or perhaps not toasted (?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqury3B_UyY (7:12) Not sure how the various millets might compare in terms of taste, but we might add this to the backlog of research needed on flavors of millets and their products. There are multi-millet teas, such as SkyRoots Millet Tea - https://www.distacart.com/products/skyroots-millet-tea . Ingredients of this product include finger millet, pearl millet, and sorghum, among other grains and spices. Over half of the mix, however, is "tea powder." A very short video illustrates use: https://www.instagram.com/food.ie.me/reel/C1HYU8yvaPC/ Anyway, that's a quick tour. Don Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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