Reviewing USDA's 2014 browntop millet profile
USDA publications on crops and other plants are standard references in the US and also used internationally.Here's a brief consideration of the USDA profile of our millet of the month in September, browntop or brown top millet: Sheahan, C.M. 2014. "Plant guide for browntop millet (Urochloa ramosa)." USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Cape May Plant Materials Center, Cape May, NJ. https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_urra.pdf Three years ago, I included a link to it in a Collab post about browntop millet (and its cousin, Guinea millet)./1 Here I'd like to look at a few details that might merit review for updating. I should hasten to add, that by focusing on details, this is not meant to lessen the overall utility of the plant guide - just to offer items for attention in any revision. * Two different panicle forms: Under Description > General, this plant guide does not mention that browntop has two panicle forms - one open, and the other compact. See, for instance, Nandini, et al 2026 (which includes a side-by-side image) cited in my recent post on Collab./2 See also an article mentioning Karnataka, India farmers' observation that the open-panicle or "branched" variety has less insect problems, and the compact-panicle or "ball" variety has higher seed/grain production./3 The panicle form would seem to be of particular interest for developing varieties for food. My impression is that in general, browntop varieties in the US are open-panicle varieties. (Panicle forms may vary in any millet, but is this a distinct varietal difference in browntop? Cf. in sorghum, Guinea type [open, often drooping] and Cautatum type [semi-compact and upright].) * Introduction to the US: Under Description > Distribution, the document cites a 1990 source stating that it was introduced to the US in 1915. Without suggesting that this is incorrect, I would note that I tried without success to find a primary source confirming the date. Separate searches turned up three mentions in newspapers in the US Southeast in 1918-1920 that did not give any background. One later source (1956) quotes a crop specialist as saying that it was already being grown in Georgia in 1916. The 1915 date seems realistic, if one accepts the possibility of quick dissemination. I'm still working on compiling the sparse information on this and hope to share it later. * Shade tolerance?: Under Description > Habitat, it is stated that browntp grows best "... under full sun." This is unsurprising, being a common characteristic of millets. However, there is evidence that it can also be grown in association with trees (agroforestry) and might be shade tolerant./4 The article mentions growing browntop under tamarind trees, which from personal observation have a somewhat diffuse shade./5 How well this association of browntop and trees actually works for grain or forage production would be an interesting research topic. * Waterlogging: Under Adaptation, it might state browntop's preference with regard to too much water. Most descriptions not that it doesn't like wet feet (unlike sorghum or the barnyard millets) but at least one source suggests the opposite./4 * Use for food: The document mentions use of browntop as food not under Uses but only under Ethnobotany. An update should mention that it is now a minor commercial crop, packaged for sale in India and also exported. * One final item: In mentioning several other millets under Adaptation, this document equates "Japanese millet" with Echinochloa frumentacea, while other sources prefer E. esculenta./6 This is a separate and longer discussion, but noting here just that most sources discuss E. esculenta and E. frumentatia - the "barnyard millets" - as two separate species with origins likely in Japan and India, respectively. Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance Notes: 1. "September millet(s)-of-the-month: Browntop & Guinea," 30 Sept. 2023 https://lists.millets2023.space/archives/list/collab@lists.millets2023.space... 2. "3 recent review articles on browntop millet," 21 Sept. 2026 https://lists.millets2023.space/archives/list/collab@lists.millets2023.space... 3. Sujata B, Prabhu C G, Nandini C, Prabhakar, Thippeswamy V. "Browntop Millet- A Review". Agricultural Research & Technology: Open Access Journal. 2018; 14(5): 555937. DOI: 10.19080/ARTOAJ.2018.14.555937 https://juniperpublishers.com/artoaj/pdf/ARTOAJ.MS.ID.555937.pdf 4. "Return of the forgotten crop – Brown top millet," by Anitha Reddy and Krishna Prasad G, Leis India, n.d. (earliest capture on Archive.org, 3 Dec. 2020) https://www.leisaindia.org/return-of-the-forgotten-crop-brown-top-millet/ . I previously shared this link on Collab 2 years ago: https://lists.millets2023.space/archives/list/collab@lists.millets2023.space... 5. Tamarind trees are common in the Sahel, where I have worked. I did some limited propagation of this species from seed in Mali. 6. For example: Sheahan, C.M. 2014. "Plant guide for Japanese millet (Echinochloa esculenta)." USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Cape May Plant Materials Center, Cape May, NJ.
Don, interesting summary of brown top millet. Here are a few references to support your investigation: --*When did brown top enter the U.S.*? Several of my sources also state that brown top entered the U.S. in 1915. See - "... was introduced from India around 1915 ." Kingwell-Banham E., Fuller D.Q. Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer; New York, NY, USA: 2014. Brown Top Millet: Origins and Development; pp. 1021–1024. https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_2318. - "...a native of India, (it) was introduced into the United States in 1915." John H. Martin, Warran H. Leonard, Principles of Field Crop Production, second edition, 1967, p. 530, likely quoting source as J. P. Craigmiles and J.M. Elrod Browntop Millet in Georgia, Ga. Agr. Exp. Sta. Leaflet 14, 1957. (However, I cannot find that Leaflet.) *Brown top agronomic*s: source: Southern Forages, fourth edition, D.M. Ball, C.S. Hoveland and G.D. Lacefield, 2007, p. 28. - Annual, erect--2 to 3 feet tall, Leafy, fine-stemmed. Seed head a yellow to brown panicle. - Primary adaptation: Zones A, B, and C. Does not produce well on calcareous soils. - Major uses: Pasture and hay. - Establishment: Seed drilled at 15 to 20 lbs/a or broadcast at 25 to 30 lbs/a in April-August. Growing season about 60 days. - Fertilization: Response to nitrogen. Very tolerant of soil acidity. - Seasonal production: June-August. Much less productive than pearl millet or sorghum-sudan hybrids. - Management: Hay should be cut at heading. Usually a one-cut crop. - Pests: Armyworms. *Panicle types and seed color*: primary source: How to Produce Proso Millet: A Farmer's Guide, Gary Wietgrefe, 1990. - The head design of brown top lends itself from compact to spreading panicle similar to proso. Typical proso varieties today have a compact head, but historically proso varieties in the U.S. were often open or spreading panicles. For example, red seeded proso varietyTurghai was introduced in 1903 into the U.S. by E.A. Bessey, a USDA employee, and was the only variety of proso certified in Colorado before 1968. Red proso variety, Akron, was developed by Colorado State University with original seed coming from Iran. Akron has a compact head, less inclined to lodge, and matures two to four weeks earlier than Turhuai. - Brown top seed coat varies in color from light to dark, but heirloom seed is often referred to as brown. Since U.S. varietal development of brown top is lacking, it is similar to proso before varietal development in the late 1960s into the 1970s. On October 27, 1923 USDA's Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. 26, No. 4 by Charlotte Elliot wrote, "Proso differs from the more common foxtail millet in having a more open branching panicles somewhat resembling those of the oat inflorescence." - Acceptance of open panicle proso existed until white and red seed coat proso varieties were developed in the 1970s. For example, in 1923 Elliot wrote, "Black Voronezh, Hansen's White Siberian, Tambov, and Turghai have been introduced from Russia since 1897and are grown to some extent at the experiment stations of the Mississippi Valley" which is highly likely where brown top millet was first introduce, perhaps at the same era, and at the same U.S. state experiment stations in the "Mississippi Valley." - My book also reports panicle and seed coat color of those grown in the 1920s as "spreading panicle varieties" were White Ural (creamy white), Hanson White Siberian (brownish yellow), Tambov (reddish brown), Red Russian (reddish brown), and Turghai (yellowish brown). 1920's proso with "Loose, one-sided panicle varietes" were White French (creamy white), Yellow Manitoba (brownish yellow), Red Orenburg (reddish brown), and Black Voronezh (brownish black). On Wed, Sep 30, 2026 at 7:52 AM Don Osborn via Collab < collab@lists.millets2023.space> wrote:
USDA publications on crops and other plants are standard references in the US and also used internationally.Here's a brief consideration of the USDA profile of our millet of the month in September, browntop or brown top millet: Sheahan, C.M. 2014. "Plant guide for browntop millet (Urochloa ramosa)." USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Cape May Plant Materials Center, Cape May, NJ. https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_urra.pdf
Three years ago, I included a link to it in a Collab post about browntop millet (and its cousin, Guinea millet)./1 Here I'd like to look at a few details that might merit review for updating. I should hasten to add, that by focusing on details, this is not meant to lessen the overall utility of the plant guide - just to offer items for attention in any revision.
* Two different panicle forms: Under Description > General, this plant guide does not mention that browntop has two panicle forms - one open, and the other compact. See, for instance, Nandini, et al 2026 (which includes a side-by-side image) cited in my recent post on Collab./2 See also an article mentioning Karnataka, India farmers' observation that the open-panicle or "branched" variety has less insect problems, and the compact-panicle or "ball" variety has higher seed/grain production./3 The panicle form would seem to be of particular interest for developing varieties for food. My impression is that in general, browntop varieties in the US are open-panicle varieties. (Panicle forms may vary in any millet, but is this a distinct varietal difference in browntop? Cf. in sorghum, Guinea type [open, often drooping] and Cautatum type [semi-compact and upright].)
* Introduction to the US: Under Description > Distribution, the document cites a 1990 source stating that it was introduced to the US in 1915. Without suggesting that this is incorrect, I would note that I tried without success to find a primary source confirming the date. Separate searches turned up three mentions in newspapers in the US Southeast in 1918-1920 that did not give any background. One later source (1956) quotes a crop specialist as saying that it was already being grown in Georgia in 1916. The 1915 date seems realistic, if one accepts the possibility of quick dissemination. I'm still working on compiling the sparse information on this and hope to share it later.
* Shade tolerance?: Under Description > Habitat, it is stated that browntp grows best "... under full sun." This is unsurprising, being a common characteristic of millets. However, there is evidence that it can also be grown in association with trees (agroforestry) and might be shade tolerant./4 The article mentions growing browntop under tamarind trees, which from personal observation have a somewhat diffuse shade./5 How well this association of browntop and trees actually works for grain or forage production would be an interesting research topic.
* Waterlogging: Under Adaptation, it might state browntop's preference with regard to too much water. Most descriptions not that it doesn't like wet feet (unlike sorghum or the barnyard millets) but at least one source suggests the opposite./4
* Use for food: The document mentions use of browntop as food not under Uses but only under Ethnobotany. An update should mention that it is now a minor commercial crop, packaged for sale in India and also exported.
* One final item: In mentioning several other millets under Adaptation, this document equates "Japanese millet" with Echinochloa frumentacea, while other sources prefer E. esculenta./6 This is a separate and longer discussion, but noting here just that most sources discuss E. esculenta and E. frumentatia - the "barnyard millets" - as two separate species with origins likely in Japan and India, respectively.
Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance
Notes: 1. "September millet(s)-of-the-month: Browntop & Guinea," 30 Sept. 2023
https://lists.millets2023.space/archives/list/collab@lists.millets2023.space... 2. "3 recent review articles on browntop millet," 21 Sept. 2026
https://lists.millets2023.space/archives/list/collab@lists.millets2023.space... 3. Sujata B, Prabhu C G, Nandini C, Prabhakar, Thippeswamy V. "Browntop Millet- A Review". Agricultural Research & Technology: Open Access Journal. 2018; 14(5): 555937. DOI: 10.19080/ARTOAJ.2018.14.555937 https://juniperpublishers.com/artoaj/pdf/ARTOAJ.MS.ID.555937.pdf 4. "Return of the forgotten crop – Brown top millet," by Anitha Reddy and Krishna Prasad G, Leis India, n.d. (earliest capture on Archive.org, 3 Dec. 2020) https://www.leisaindia.org/return-of-the-forgotten-crop-brown-top-millet/ . I previously shared this link on Collab 2 years ago:
https://lists.millets2023.space/archives/list/collab@lists.millets2023.space... 5. Tamarind trees are common in the Sahel, where I have worked. I did some limited propagation of this species from seed in Mali. 6. For example: Sheahan, C.M. 2014. "Plant guide for Japanese millet (Echinochloa esculenta)." USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Cape May Plant Materials Center, Cape May, NJ.
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Thanks, Gary. The additional information you offer on browntop millet and on the matter of panicle form in millets is helpful. I did some digging on details in the earliest mention of "browntop millet" or "brown top millet" in newspapers indexed on Newspapers.com: "The Johnston Civic league is the recipient of a package of browntop millet seed from Nat Willet, Richmond county's food administrator, ... *The Sunday Record*, (Columbia, SC) "Out of Town Society," Sun, May 12, 1918, https://www.newspapers.com/image/744297262/?terms=browntop&match=1 (Richmond County, GA is not too far from Johnston, SC.) It turns out that Willet owned the N.L. Willet Seed Co. in Augusta, GA. This company's seed catalog for the following spring (1919) has a listing for "Brown top millet" with description and testimonials, introduced with this text: "New, only listed by us. In use here (an East Indian Grass) five years." Also a photo. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50624931#page/52/mode/1up . The species name, however appears to be incorrect. Panicum fasciculatum is the old name for Urochloa fusca (browntop signalgrass), which is native to the Americas. The five year period mentioned would put the use of this crop (presumably U. ramosa, browntop millet) as early as 1914. A mention in a paper some four decades later quotes Dr. Hugh W. Bennett of Mississippi State College as saying that browntop millet was "first noticed in Southeast Georgia in 1916 where a few farmers were growing it for hay." ("County Agent Farm News," Columbian-Progress, Thu, May 05, 1955, Page 10 https://www.newspapers.com/image/249881274/?match=1&terms=%22Panicum%20ramos... ). By the way, the "starr millet" mentioned would be a variety of pearl millet. All of which is not to quibble about the exact date browntop millet was introduced, but rather to try to get a better idea of who did what where in those early days and build out the story from there. One might surmise that Nat Willet, as a seed company owner, had received seeds at some point, presumably from USDA, and then grown them out to then distibute. How did all that work? DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Wed, Sep 30, 2026 at 3:24 PM Gary Wietgrefe <gww374@gmail.com> wrote:
Don, interesting summary of brown top millet. Here are a few references to support your investigation:
--*When did brown top enter the U.S.*? Several of my sources also state that brown top entered the U.S. in 1915. See
- "... was introduced from India around 1915 ." Kingwell-Banham E., Fuller D.Q. Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer; New York, NY, USA: 2014. Brown Top Millet: Origins and Development; pp. 1021–1024. https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_2318. - "...a native of India, (it) was introduced into the United States in 1915." John H. Martin, Warran H. Leonard, Principles of Field Crop Production, second edition, 1967, p. 530, likely quoting source as J. P. Craigmiles and J.M. Elrod Browntop Millet in Georgia, Ga. Agr. Exp. Sta. Leaflet 14, 1957. (However, I cannot find that Leaflet.)
*Brown top agronomic*s: source: Southern Forages, fourth edition, D.M. Ball, C.S. Hoveland and G.D. Lacefield, 2007, p. 28.
- Annual, erect--2 to 3 feet tall, Leafy, fine-stemmed. Seed head a yellow to brown panicle. - Primary adaptation: Zones A, B, and C. Does not produce well on calcareous soils. - Major uses: Pasture and hay. - Establishment: Seed drilled at 15 to 20 lbs/a or broadcast at 25 to 30 lbs/a in April-August. Growing season about 60 days. - Fertilization: Response to nitrogen. Very tolerant of soil acidity. - Seasonal production: June-August. Much less productive than pearl millet or sorghum-sudan hybrids. - Management: Hay should be cut at heading. Usually a one-cut crop. - Pests: Armyworms.
*Panicle types and seed color*: primary source: How to Produce Proso Millet: A Farmer's Guide, Gary Wietgrefe, 1990.
- The head design of brown top lends itself from compact to spreading panicle similar to proso. Typical proso varieties today have a compact head, but historically proso varieties in the U.S. were often open or spreading panicles. For example, red seeded proso varietyTurghai was introduced in 1903 into the U.S. by E.A. Bessey, a USDA employee, and was the only variety of proso certified in Colorado before 1968. Red proso variety, Akron, was developed by Colorado State University with original seed coming from Iran. Akron has a compact head, less inclined to lodge, and matures two to four weeks earlier than Turhuai. - Brown top seed coat varies in color from light to dark, but heirloom seed is often referred to as brown. Since U.S. varietal development of brown top is lacking, it is similar to proso before varietal development in the late 1960s into the 1970s. On October 27, 1923 USDA's Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. 26, No. 4 by Charlotte Elliot wrote, "Proso differs from the more common foxtail millet in having a more open branching panicles somewhat resembling those of the oat inflorescence." - Acceptance of open panicle proso existed until white and red seed coat proso varieties were developed in the 1970s. For example, in 1923 Elliot wrote, "Black Voronezh, Hansen's White Siberian, Tambov, and Turghai have been introduced from Russia since 1897and are grown to some extent at the experiment stations of the Mississippi Valley" which is highly likely where brown top millet was first introduce, perhaps at the same era, and at the same U.S. state experiment stations in the "Mississippi Valley." - My book also reports panicle and seed coat color of those grown in the 1920s as "spreading panicle varieties" were White Ural (creamy white), Hanson White Siberian (brownish yellow), Tambov (reddish brown), Red Russian (reddish brown), and Turghai (yellowish brown). 1920's proso with "Loose, one-sided panicle varietes" were White French (creamy white), Yellow Manitoba (brownish yellow), Red Orenburg (reddish brown), and Black Voronezh (brownish black).
On Wed, Sep 30, 2026 at 7:52 AM Don Osborn via Collab < collab@lists.millets2023.space> wrote:
USDA publications on crops and other plants are standard references in the US and also used internationally.Here's a brief consideration of the USDA profile of our millet of the month in September, browntop or brown top millet: Sheahan, C.M. 2014. "Plant guide for browntop millet (Urochloa ramosa)." USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Cape May Plant Materials Center, Cape May, NJ. https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_urra.pdf
Three years ago, I included a link to it in a Collab post about browntop millet (and its cousin, Guinea millet)./1 Here I'd like to look at a few details that might merit review for updating. I should hasten to add, that by focusing on details, this is not meant to lessen the overall utility of the plant guide - just to offer items for attention in any revision.
* Two different panicle forms: Under Description > General, this plant guide does not mention that browntop has two panicle forms - one open, and the other compact. See, for instance, Nandini, et al 2026 (which includes a side-by-side image) cited in my recent post on Collab./2 See also an article mentioning Karnataka, India farmers' observation that the open-panicle or "branched" variety has less insect problems, and the compact-panicle or "ball" variety has higher seed/grain production./3 The panicle form would seem to be of particular interest for developing varieties for food. My impression is that in general, browntop varieties in the US are open-panicle varieties. (Panicle forms may vary in any millet, but is this a distinct varietal difference in browntop? Cf. in sorghum, Guinea type [open, often drooping] and Cautatum type [semi-compact and upright].)
* Introduction to the US: Under Description > Distribution, the document cites a 1990 source stating that it was introduced to the US in 1915. Without suggesting that this is incorrect, I would note that I tried without success to find a primary source confirming the date. Separate searches turned up three mentions in newspapers in the US Southeast in 1918-1920 that did not give any background. One later source (1956) quotes a crop specialist as saying that it was already being grown in Georgia in 1916. The 1915 date seems realistic, if one accepts the possibility of quick dissemination. I'm still working on compiling the sparse information on this and hope to share it later.
* Shade tolerance?: Under Description > Habitat, it is stated that browntp grows best "... under full sun." This is unsurprising, being a common characteristic of millets. However, there is evidence that it can also be grown in association with trees (agroforestry) and might be shade tolerant./4 The article mentions growing browntop under tamarind trees, which from personal observation have a somewhat diffuse shade./5 How well this association of browntop and trees actually works for grain or forage production would be an interesting research topic.
* Waterlogging: Under Adaptation, it might state browntop's preference with regard to too much water. Most descriptions not that it doesn't like wet feet (unlike sorghum or the barnyard millets) but at least one source suggests the opposite./4
* Use for food: The document mentions use of browntop as food not under Uses but only under Ethnobotany. An update should mention that it is now a minor commercial crop, packaged for sale in India and also exported.
* One final item: In mentioning several other millets under Adaptation, this document equates "Japanese millet" with Echinochloa frumentacea, while other sources prefer E. esculenta./6 This is a separate and longer discussion, but noting here just that most sources discuss E. esculenta and E. frumentatia - the "barnyard millets" - as two separate species with origins likely in Japan and India, respectively.
Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance
Notes: 1. "September millet(s)-of-the-month: Browntop & Guinea," 30 Sept. 2023
https://lists.millets2023.space/archives/list/collab@lists.millets2023.space... 2. "3 recent review articles on browntop millet," 21 Sept. 2026
https://lists.millets2023.space/archives/list/collab@lists.millets2023.space... 3. Sujata B, Prabhu C G, Nandini C, Prabhakar, Thippeswamy V. "Browntop Millet- A Review". Agricultural Research & Technology: Open Access Journal. 2018; 14(5): 555937. DOI: 10.19080/ARTOAJ.2018.14.555937 https://juniperpublishers.com/artoaj/pdf/ARTOAJ.MS.ID.555937.pdf 4. "Return of the forgotten crop – Brown top millet," by Anitha Reddy and Krishna Prasad G, Leis India, n.d. (earliest capture on Archive.org, 3 Dec. 2020) https://www.leisaindia.org/return-of-the-forgotten-crop-brown-top-millet/ . I previously shared this link on Collab 2 years ago:
https://lists.millets2023.space/archives/list/collab@lists.millets2023.space... 5. Tamarind trees are common in the Sahel, where I have worked. I did some limited propagation of this species from seed in Mali. 6. For example: Sheahan, C.M. 2014. "Plant guide for Japanese millet (Echinochloa esculenta)." USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Cape May Plant Materials Center, Cape May, NJ.
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-- 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.
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