Chicago, Illinois, USA
February 27, 2014
Chromatin, Inc., an agriculture technology company, announced the development of five forage sorghum products designed to produce highly digestible biomass.
At the 2014 Commodity Classic convention and tradeshow, which opens today in San Antonio, Texas, Chromatin is showcasing its grain and forage sorghum product portfolio, including five new forage sorghum products now available for commercial testing. These new products express the BMR (brown midrib) trait, which is highly valued by dairy and beef producers for its enhanced digestibility, palatability and nutritional value. With sorghum’s natural drought tolerance, these new products provide high-yield options for hay, silage and grazing applications, even in regions with limited water resources.
“Chromatin’s forage sorghum breeding program, which was launched in 2009, has surpassed our expectations,” said Ken Davenport, Chromatin’s Chief Technology Officer. “Led by Kerry Mayfield and Larry Lambright, and augmented by germplasm sourced from several university and commercial parties, this program has developed exciting new hybrids with advantageous phenotypes. In addition to the BMR trait, which reduces lignin content, we have incorporated brachytic (short internode), fertility, and standability phenotypes that are highly desired in the marketplace.”
Chromatin’s product pipeline also includes high-yielding grain sorghum hybrids designed with maturities to serve a wide-range of geographies, as well as hybrids designed as renewable energy feedstocks.
“Our investment in R&D is paying off,” said Chromatin’s CEO, Daphne Preuss. “Our team has developed an accelerated approach that has taken years off the normal pipeline process. Further, through our combined efforts in grain, forage and sweet sorghum breeding, we are often finding innovations can be broadly leveraged for multiple purposes, spanning traditional agriculture and renewable energy applications,” said Preuss.
“Chromatin currently sells a strong lineup of forage sorghums,” Jeff Widder, Chromatin’s Executive Vice President noted. “With these new products, our breeding pipeline has realized the first generation of step changes in sorghum yields and value. The new hybrids launched this year allow us to expand our geographic range and provide growers more options than ever before.”