Thanks Gary, for this useful discussion of 5 agronomic considerations when introducing fonio (or any crop) into a new area. Might one also consider the potential for unintended consequences - among which the potential for escape as weeds? Regarding #5, fonio is indeed cultivated in some more humid areas in West Africa. In fact, the biggest producing area - the Futa Jalon platearu region in Guinea - is one of those. The hand drawn loop in the map offered by the American Geographical Society at https://www.facebook.com/americangeo/photos/1504087978421377/ seems accurate. The weird lower loop includes the area in Togo in which I was introduced to fonio.. Fonio is often referred to in publicity as a Sahelian crop, but it's actually more than that. "Sahel" is variously defined in terms of rainfall levels. The thing about West Africa is that the annual rainfall gradients change quickly as one goes north or south, and the boundaries of what's grown where are regularly pushed. One correction: I was in my most recent email in the chain asking how location and point in the rainy season in which fonio is grown makes a difference in grain quality for brewing. The seasonal references in the tropics are of course different from what we have up here. Finally, in a separate email exchange off-list, Gary, you shared a master's thesis in which trials in western Michigan were discussed: This complements the disussion nicely. Citation, link & abstract follow Abigail Dingus. 2022. "Characterizing Fonio Production Across Scales: Interdisciplinary Insights From a Local Field Trial and a Scoping Review." MS thesis, Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, https://d.lib.msu.edu/etd/50912 Abstract: "As the changing climate places new stressors on agricultural production, novel and adaptive management practices that provide resistance or resilience are needed to overcome these challenges. Increased biodiversity can improve resilience and ecosystem function, allowing agroecosystems to continue production after temporal or extreme climate events. One way to increase both local and regional diversity is by broadening the number of crops produced. Minor crops which suffer from lack of formalized research and are grown for cultural value or local adaptations, may fill niches in agroecosystems outside their traditional production systems. One of these minor crops is a small grain from West Africa called fonio. Fonio is extremely valuable in West Africa for food security, nutrition, and cultural practices, but its value has not yet been recognized globally. Increasing our understanding of this crop may provide a pathway for improving fonio for its native habitat and new environments. While there are ample uses of fonio and opportunities to improve production, there is limited research on fonio in most disciplines. This research sought to fill knowledge gaps and inform future research on fonio through two studies: a scoping review and a field study. A scoping literature review was completed where research across disciplines was summarized and analyzed for gaps in knowledge. The review found novel uses for fonio including building materials, pharmaceutical uses, industrial uses, and feed for animals. Further use of fonio is limited by knowledge gaps in the optimization of management for different environments, mechanization for production and processing, and a lack of breeding efforts. To better understand the production and uses of fonio more documentation is needed in field management, economics, seed systems, and producer/consumer preferences. A major gap identified was the viability of fonio outside its native habitat and the effect of fertilizer and seeding rate on fonio growth and forage quality. A two-year (2021-22) field study conducted in Western Michigan tested fonio production in a new environment, assessed forage quality, and determined the effect of seeding and fertilizer rate on biomass and grain yields. Results indicated that low planting densities (4 kg/ha) improved grain yields but reduced biomass. Fertilization greater than 19.5 kg N/ha increased biomass but had no effect on grain yield. Grown in Michigan, fonio forage quality was high (RFQ=131-150) when cut at booting stage but biomass yield was low compared to other summer annuals. From these studies, we determined that fonio may be a useful crop in the US as a forage or cover crop, filling a niche in perennial pastures during dry summer months. More research is needed to further understand fonio management and global uses while ensuring West African producers maintain sovereignty as the crop stewards of fonio." DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Mon, Aug 10, 2026 at 3:28 PM Gary Wietgrefe <gww374@gmail.com> wrote:
Don asks if fonio production is limited to the tropics semi-arid highlands. My general answer is "no," but grains produced outside their general production area have several critical agronomic challenges. Here are a few agronomic considerations on fonio production:
1. *Photo-period*: Most grains are photo-period sensitive. I am not sure how sensitive fonio is to photo-periods (specifically length of nights). Proso millet certainly is photo-period sensitive which restricts the latitude where it can be economically produced. Corn, through centuries of breeding and type development (dent, flint, sweet, pop, etc.) is generally considered non-photo period sensitive, but yet it is a warm-season crop where types are geographically restricted. 2. *Altitude sensitive*: Certain grains are quite sensitive to changes in production elevation. Fonio appears to be able to profitably reproduce from sea level to 5,000 foot--similar to proso. However, elevation can change growing season length. For example, 110 day corn grown at 1,000 foot elevation should be switched to shorter growing season corn (100 or 105-day) at the same latitude at 3,000 foot elevation. I cannot find data on the length of fonio growing season at different elevations. 3. *Temperatur*e: Fonio is a warm season crop as are other millets. Fonio apparently grows best at 77-95 degrees F, and may struggle when temperatures go below 70 degrees F. Therefore, fonio should not be planted in cold wet soils, and it should reach physiological maturity before cool nights or frost shut down the plants. 4. *Solar radiation*: In traditional production areas in Africa, fonio is a dry-season crop. To me, that means fonio is best produced with little cloud cover. Limiting solar radiation with cloud cover will likely lengthen the growing season and increase chances of disease problems. 5. *Humidity*: Fonio is a dry-season crop as are most millets. However, that does not mean it cannot be grown in more humid areas. The issue would be sensitivity to destructive pathogens, especially leaf and root fungi.
I am not a fonio agronomist. However, the five issues above should be considered wherever fonio production is attempted. Lastly, a successful year, two or three of fonio production does not mean it is agronomically suited for an area, since each year humidity, moisture patterns, diseases, insects, grain prices, and alternative crops will determine fonio's agronomic fit....Gary Wietgrefe
On Sat, Aug 1, 2026 at 10:25 PM Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org> wrote:
Thanks Joni, Gary, for your replies.
Gary, this is way out of my area of expertise, but I had no idea that a grain's growing region made a difference for the brewing.
If this would apply to proso, would it also apply to fonio? Of course the latter is produced in the tropics (semi-arid and highland, mainly). so the timing would have other considerations.
Don
DO, EL, MI, US NAMA
On Sun, Jul 26, 2026 at 2:24 PM Gary Wietgrefe via Collab < collab@lists.millets2023.space> wrote:
My proso for beer message accidentally got sent before I finished and I didn't have a beer.😃
My point 3: Proso is drought tolerant and is not produced in the same regions and under the same growing conditions that favor malting barley and wheats. Proso cannot be planted early because it is very frost sensitive. Proso is a warm season crop grown in the semi-arid U.S. Plains under generally low humidity conditions. Proso is almost exclusively grown as dryland production--not irrigation.
If breweries are looking for alternative grains to make beer, they should not be trying to source proso in the same geographies nor under the same growing conditions as producing the most plump malting barley and wheat....Gary Wietgrefe
On Sun, Jul 26, 2026 at 12:13 PM Gary Wietgrefe <gww374@gmail.com> wrote:
It is really hot outside as I am reading this. I want a millet beer!
*Why isn't more proso used for beer*?
1. Brewing Science suggests proso beer "...*regions, where the appropriate growing conditions for cereals like wheat, barley, among others, are not met*." Proso Millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) a Sustainable Raw Material for the Malting and Brewing Process: A Review | BrewingScience < https://brewingscience.de/index.php/brewingscience/article/view/475>. 2. What are agronomic conditions for producing the best malt barely? The University of Idaho suggests:
https://content-hub.uidaho.edu/api/public/content/23b1b877a04247d98a296e8126...
- "Plant early to avoid moisture stress." - "Any moisture stress will limit spring barley yields." - " Schedule irrigations to maintain 50% or greater available soil moisture for most growth periods."
3.
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