Sorghum is used for food, fodder, and the production of alcoholic beverages. It is drought tolerant and heat tolerant and is especially important in arid regions. It is an important food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia, and is the "fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world". African slaves introduced sorghum into the U.S., where most of the world's commercially grown sorghum is now produced, in the early *7th century.

Recently, however, the US Congress passed the Renewable Fuels Standard, with the goal of producing *0 billion litres (8 billion gallons) of renewable fuel (ethanol) annually by ***2. This bill should noticeably increase the demand for ethanol producing crops for at least the next decade. Sorghum produces the same amount of ethanol per unit as maize, therefore in hot areas where sorghum can out produce maize this bill should result in an increase in grain sorghum cultivation. Sorghum growers are hoping that this will create just the market they need to take off with production. Currently, *2% of grain sorghum production in the US is used to make ethanol, and growers are hoping for an increase.