National Sorghum Producers

What National Sorghum Producers does

National Sorghum Producers (NSP) is a private, membership-based agricultural commodity organization founded in 1955 and headquartered in Lubbock, Texas. It represents U.S. sorghum growers across 21 producing states — concentrated in the Sorghum Belt running from South Dakota to South Texas — through legislative and regulatory advocacy, policy representation in Washington D.C., and producer education programs. NSP is governed by an elected farmer Board of Directors led by Chair Amy France and managed by CEO Tim Lust, with a staff of approximately 11 spanning policy, communications, membership services, and operations.

NSP's core offerings include the Producer Membership Program (providing representation in Washington and access to first-hand policy information), the annual National Sorghum Yield Contest, the Leadership Sorghum development program, and the Sorghum Sustainability Program promoting sorghum as a resource-conserving crop. Ancillary programs include the National Sorghum Foundation scholarships (a wholly-owned subsidiary), the NSP Podcast, and the NSP Magazine. NSP also leads a $65 million USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant quantifying sorghum sustainability, and in 2025 expanded into cross-commodity water policy through a partnership with Ducks Unlimited and Dairy Farmers of America.

The organization is funded through recurring membership dues from individual growers, elevators, cooperatives, and an Industry Partner Program, supplemented by donations and grant administration revenue. Its distribution is domestic and U.S.-focused, delivered via direct outreach, annual legislative fly-ins, the Commodity Classic conference, a self-serve E-Membership channel, and digital channels including a website, YouTube, and the Sorghum Smart Talk podcast. NSP holds the registered trademark "The Resource Conserving Crop™" and positions itself as the coast-to-coast policy voice of the sorghum industry.

Name

National Sorghum Producers

Legal name

National Sorghum Producers

Website

https://sorghumgrowers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1955

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

National Sorghum Producers is a 1955-founded, Lubbock-based agricultural trade association representing U.S. sorghum growers across 21 states through legislative advocacy, regulatory representation, yield contests, scholarships, and sustainability programs, funded by membership dues and industry partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lubbock

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: NSP represents U.S. sorghum producers and serves as the voice of the sorghum industry through membership fees from individual producers, elevators, and other industry stakeholders.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

No source material was provided to extract core offerings details.

Product overview

National Sorghum Producers (NSP) is a commodity organization that operates as a unified membership-based advocacy and education platform rather than a technology product company. The organization provides a suite of programs including the core Producer Membership Program for legislative representation, the annual National Sorghum Yield Contest recognizing top growers, the National Sorghum Foundation Scholarships supporting agricultural students, the Leadership Sorghum Program developing future industry leaders, the Sorghum Sustainability Program promoting resource-conserving crop attributes, plus the NSP Podcast and Magazine for industry communication. These offerings work together to advance a profitable, diverse, and competitive sorghum industry through advocacy, education, and member services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Facilitated $1.66 billion in support payments to sorghum farmers ($403.84M + $258.99M + $996M)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Tulsa PortsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 16 March 2026Tulsa Ports joined NSP as a new industry partner in March 2026, expanding the organization's reach in the sorghum transportation and export value chain.
• Ducks UnlimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2025NSP and Ducks Unlimited announced a landmark water partnership to promote water-smart agriculture practices. The collaboration focuses on conservation and sustainable water management in sorghum production regions.
• DFA (Dairy Farmers of America)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2025DFA joined NSP and Ducks Unlimited in the landmark water partnership announced in March 2025, focusing on water-smart agriculture initiatives.
• Farmers EdgeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 May 2024Farmers Edge and NSP joined forces to empower growers for climate-smart agriculture through the USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Grant program.
• USDAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 September 2022NSP leads a $65 million USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funded project, working with USDA to quantify sorghum sustainability and promote climate-smart agricultural practices.
• ChromatincoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 September 2011Chromatin partnered with NSP as an industry partner to test sorghum biomass for power generation. Chromatin is a supplier of biomass feedstock for energy producers and grew three fields totaling 95 acres of high energy, biomass sorghum for test burns at power plants in California.
• Constellation EnergycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 September 2011Constellation Energy partnered with Chromatin to test sorghum as a fuel source for power generation at two California power plants jointly owned with North American Power Group. The partnership explored using sorghum biomass to generate electricity as an alternative fuel to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• BASFminorOthersBASF partnered with National Sorghum Foundation on joint scholarship programs for students pursuing agricultural studies, with emphasis on sorghum research and production.
• National Sorghum FoundationcoreOthersThe National Sorghum Foundation is a subsidiary of NSP that provides scholarships including the Bruce Maunder Memorial Scholarship, Darrell Rosenow Memorial Scholarship, and Bill Kubecka Memorial Scholarship.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• USA Rice Federation: National trade association representing the U.S. rice industry through advocacy, research, and promotion. Comparable as a row-crop commodity organization with similar producer advocacy mission and federal policy engagement.
• American Soybean Association: Commodity organization representing U.S. soybean farmers through legislative advocacy and market development. Comparable as a row-crop producer association with similar policy advocacy, sustainability programs, and Congressional fly-in engagement.
• National Association of Wheat Growers: U.S. trade association advocating for wheat producers through policy and market development. Comparable as a row-crop commodity organization with similar membership model, Congressional fly-ins, and farm bill engagement.
• Growth Energy: U.S. biofuel trade association advocating for ethanol producers and growers. Comparable as an ethanol-policy-focused advocacy organization aligned with NSP's E15 and 45Z policy priorities, working with sorghum farmers as feedstock suppliers.
• Renewable Fuels Association: U.S. ethanol industry trade association. Comparable as a biofuel-focused advocacy organization directly aligned with NSP's E15, RFS, and 45Z policy priorities and sorghum's role as an ethanol feedstock.
• National Cotton Council of America: U.S. commodity organization representing cotton producers, ginners, and allied industries. Comparable as an integrated commodity trade association with deep Congressional relationships, farm bill focus, and policy advocacy.
• National Corn Growers Association: U.S. commodity trade association representing corn growers through advocacy, policy representation, and member programs. Directly comparable as a row-crop commodity organization with similar advocacy mission, ethanol-market focus, and Congressional engagement model.

Broad incumbents

• National Cattlemen's Beef Association: U.S. trade association for cattle producers. Comparable as a livestock/feed commodity advocacy organization with similar policy, trade, and sustainability program structure, representing a major sorghum customer segment.
• National Farmers Union: U.S. family farmer and rancher advocacy organization with broad commodity coverage. Comparable as a national farm advocacy body engaged in farm bill and trade policy, though broader in scope than NSP.
• American Farm Bureau Federation: Largest U.S. general farm advocacy organization representing producers across all commodities. Comparable as a broad agricultural advocacy group with significantly larger scale and scope than NSP's single-commodity focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/sorghumgrowers
• Facebookfacebook.com/nationalsorghumproducers
• Xx.com/SorghumGrowers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-sorghum-producers

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about National Sorghum Producers