Fresno, California: S&W Seed Company announced the Company has signed a licensing agreement with a leading U.S.-based seed company for production and marketing of a proprietary hybrid grain sorghum variety in the United States as well as Mexico. With an estimated 597 million bushels harvested from approximately 7 to 8 million acres in 2015, the United States is one of the largest sorghum markets in the world.

This is the first U.S. based licensing agreement by S&W for any of its sorghum varieties, positioning it to benefit in a crop that is gaining increasing popularity in food products due to its gluten-free characteristics, as well as its antioxidant, high protein, low fat, high fibre and non-GM properties.

CEO of S&W Seed Company, Mark Grewal said “Sorghum is gaining increasing importance throughout the world due to its efficiency as a high-energy, drought tolerant crop that is environmentally friendly, and has favourable consumer attributes.”

He added, “We believe our hybrid grain sorghum varieties are some of the highest yielding in the world, and incorporate other important traits such as disease resistance and drought tolerance. This agreement allows us entry into a growing U.S. sorghum market with a producer that has tremendous capabilities to expand production and drive distribution. We look forward to a long-term and successful relationship with this new licensee.”

Compared to 2014, sorghum food consumption increased by nearly 40 percent in 2015. U.S. sorghum is traditionally grown throughout the Sorghum Belt, which runs from South Dakota to Southern Texas, primarily on dryland acres. Recently, acreage increases have been seen in non-traditional areas like the Mississippi Delta and Southeast regions.

Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado were the top five sorghum-producing states in 2015. The company estimates the U.S. sorghum seed market at between 25 and 30 million pounds of planting seed, worth an estimated $100 million annually.

S&W has licensing agreements with different partners to provide its grain sorghum and forage sorghum genetics throughout the world.