By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

David Oborny and his two sons, Tom and Greg, were preparing to harvest a field of milo Monday five miles north of Marion.

Oborny doesn’t usually plant much milo but planted it this year as a rotation crop.

Milo is a drought-tolerant crop, not needing much moisture to produce.

Oborny’s biggest complaint is that it is susceptible to infestations of sugarcane aphids, which eat leaves and kernels.  Honeydew produced by aphids can gum up combines and disrupt harvesting when heavy aphid populations infest upper leaves or sorghum heads.

Milo also has a tendency to fall over before harvest, Oborny said. An inspection showed that some stalks had indeed fallen. Oborny was hoping a floating header on his combine would pick up downed heads.

China is buying a lot of milo, which is helping the price, Oborny said. Tuesday’s price in Marion was $5.25 per bushel, compared to $4.34 a year ago and $3.14 on Jan. 2, 2020.

“Milo is higher than corn right now,” Oborny said.

He expected the field to yield 60 bushels per acre.

Milo, also known as sorghum, is a crop that originated in Africa. It is bred as a shorter plant for grain or a taller plant for forage. It is used in this country mainly for livestock feed and producing ethanol. In some countries, the grain is a major food source.