For eight years, Rick Boyles has been diligently breeding sorghum and other cereal grains such as wheat and oats with the belief that these crops have a place in South Carolina. 

Boyles, an assistant professor of plant breeding and genetics at Clemson University, has led the cereal grains breeding program at Clemson’s Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Florence since 2017.  

Boyles is a firm believer that sorghum, a crop not traditionally grown in South Carolina, has a place in the Palmetto State and across the Southeast region. He’s committed to helping South Carolina farmers profitably grow sorghum on their farms. 

The Clemson cereal grains breeding program has released several sorghum hybrids adapted to the Southeastern United States. Boyles and his team are screening 500 new hybrids annually that are particularly targeted to the climate of South Carolina and other southeastern states. 

“There is not a lot of sorghum acreage in the southeastern U.S. so there is not a lot of private industry investment and engagement in this crop. But we think sorghum has a place in marginal dryland cropping systems in this region because of years like this where we have extended periods of dry weather at variable times of the year and we’re farming on quite sandy soils,” Boyles said at an Aug. 29 field day at the Pee Dee REC. 

Real-life scenario replication 

Boyles says a goal of the Clemson breeding work is to develop and optimize the genetics of sorghum to fit into the production systems of farmers in the Southeast. He notes that most sorghum hybrids farmers plant were developed in the High Plains where most grain sorghum is planted.  

“These hybrids have major issues with disease resistance or lack thereof and have other limitations that do not give farmers the necessary yield potential, despite the crop having a great amount of genetic diversity. We had to develop that by breeding and selecting for these environments, which we’ve been doing for the last eight years,” he said. 

A sorghum research plot at the Pee De Research and Education Center photographed on Aug. 29. (Photo/John Hart)

Indeed, grain sorghum presents challenges in the Southeast, which is one reason it isn’t planted widely in South Carolina. Disease pressure, particularly anthracnose, is an ongoing challenge lowering the crop's yield potential. 

In his breeding work at Clemson, Boyles and his team are screening lines to produce grain sorghum hybrids that are resistant to anthracnose, fusarium head mold and other diseases. The top aim of the breeding program is to develop varieties that can yield well in South Carolina and other states across the Southeast.  

At the Pee Dee field day, Boyles and Maggie Thomas, a Ph.D. student at Clemson, highlighted a multi-crop study, funded by USDA, which examines water use efficiency and response to nematode pressure of sorghum, soybeans and corn.  

Boyles says one research goal is to provide data on how each crop responds under different production environments and use this on-farm data to build realistic crop enterprise budgets. 

Thomas, who grew up on a row crop farm in Marshville, N.C., about an hour’s drive northwest of the Pee Dee Center, said another aim of the research is to replicate a real-life scenario for each crop.  

On-farm trials were set up on four locations across South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. Five varieties of sorghum, corn, and soybeans commonly grown throughout the Southeast were planted at each site. 

“We planted eight row passes of each variety in 300-foot lengths and grouped them together by crop. We created mini field scenarios for each crop. We asked the farmers that were involved to manage these crops just as they would their own and they generously provided their time and energy and provided the economic inputs as well as their management practices to us,” Thomas explained at the field day. 

“Before planting we went to each site and took comprehensive soil samples for nematode levels and overall soil health which we will be repeating at harvest. Each location in this trial has had its own unique challenges,” she said. 

Research under varying conditions 

Thomas said the unprecedented June drought this year brought issues and concerns with crop performance and weed management at each research site. She says they plan to incorporate the challenges they faced this year to provide farmers with data on dealing with these real-world farming challenges on their farms. 

“Our research aim is to address several critical areas by analyzing yield data and economic inputs. We’re working to identify what crop varieties offer the best returns under varying conditions. We are also trying to understand how each crop impacts soil fertility, carbon content and nematode levels,” Thomas said. 

A goal is to develop crop rotations that will improve long-term soil health and reduce pest and weed pressure. In addition, Thomas said research data this year, where water has been scarce, will help farmers determine which crop uses water most efficiently. This year is the first year of the study and the research will continue next year at each site to ensure the findings are comprehensive and applicable across different seasons and conditions. 

“Ultimately, we’re compiling all of this data into a user-friendly enterprise budget which you can reference when making planting decisions for your farm. For example, if you know you have soil in a field that is prone to nematodes, these tools can help you estimate potential production for each crop and determine whether planting that crop will help or hurt your nematode problem,” Thomas said.