The 1903 Pearl Millet bulletin stating that pearl has been in the country for 30 years indicates southern farmers began adopting pearl millet for forage after the Civil War. Stand establishment, early harvest, and seed yield seemed to be the main issues then. The first two have generally been resolved with better planting equipment, depth control, fungicide seed treatments with grazing, haying and baleage improvements. Consistent competitive seed yield and value of stalks after harvest likely remain why pearl has not been developed as a grain crop....Gary Wietgrefe On Wed, Apr 30, 2025 at 6:06 AM <collab-request@lists.millets2023.space> wrote:

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Today's Topics:

1. "Pearl millet," USDA, 1903 (Don Osborn)

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Message: 1 Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2025 00:18:01 -0400 From: Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org> To: collab@lists.millets2023.space Subject: [Collab] "Pearl millet," USDA, 1903 Message-ID: < CA+RHibVOePtpJSJV_hkDq_st+HhxiaN0yf2jirTn_fYRKraU7Q@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Of historical interest, here's an early USDA pamphlet on pearl millet:

"Pearl millet," by Carleton R. Ball, USDA Farmers' Bulletin No. 168, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1903. (16 pages) https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc85560/

The focus is on pearl millet as a fodder crop.

Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance