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.
On Sun, Jul 26, 2026 at 9:44 AM Joni Kindwall-Moore via Collab < collab@lists.millets2023.space> wrote:
cool
On Sun, Jul 26, 2026 at 7:43 AM Don Osborn via Collab < collab@lists.millets2023.space> wrote:
I'm not a beer drinker, but as an advocate for millets, I can't help but be interested in the prominent roles of two of them in brewing of beers: proso millet and fonio. Of course, for ages people have been fermenting various millets, like grains in general, to make different types of alcoholic beverages. However I think that among millets, only proso and fonio
are
prominently used make the kind of clear beers that are served on tap or bottled/canned. (There have been experiments with pearl millet, notably in India.)
Searching online, I found no articles comparing the two. So it would be great to hear from anyone who has tried both.
In the meantime, I'll pass on the AI summaries (sorry) offered by Duckduckgo and Google, respectively. These are the short descriptions. In each case, one can click for more info)::
"Proso millet beer and fonio beer differ primarily in their base ingredients and flavor profiles. Proso millet beer is made from proso millet, which has a more earthy taste, while fonio beer, made from fonio grain, offers unique fruity notes and a lighter, more refreshing flavor"
https://duckduckgo.com/?ia=web&origin=funnel_home_website&hps=1&q=compare+pr...
"Proso millet beer and fonio beer are both unique, gluten-free
ancient
grain brews, but they differ significantly in origin, flavor profiles, and processing demands. Fonio beer offers vibrant tropical fruit notes like lychee and requires no milling, whereas proso millet beer utilizes a traditional commodity grain requiring specialized malting or processing to convert starches."
https://www.google.com/search?q=compare+proso+millet+beer+and+fonio+beer
Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance
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