The European Sorghum Congress is a professional forum organised every four years since 2016 and brings together a wide audience of professionals, such as researchers, industry leaders and policy-makers from the fields of sorghum production, variety development, processing and utilization.

The 4th European Sorghum Congress was held on 8-9 October in Budapest with over 200 participants from 24 countries. Hungary had been selected to host the event as the area under sorghum production has increased 3.6-fold over the past five years (grain and silage combined approx. 55,000 ha) in the country. Since over 90% of sorghum produced in Hungary is used as feed for livestock, it came as no surprise that a workshop was dedicated to the use of sorghum in animal feed (besides workshops on use in the food and the processing industry) following the plenary sessions. Bonafarm-Bábolna Takarmány Ltd. had the opportunity to present a talk and a poster on the use of sorghum in the feed of monogastric animals; and hosted a group of French, Romanian and Polish farmers at its feed mill in Nagyigmánd on the 7th October 2025, a day before the conference. Krisztián Czompó, director of sales and innovation gave a detailed introduction of our company to the delegation. After this presentation, Zsolt Horváth, leader of the investment division and the manager of the feed mill talked about the investments related to the reconstruction of our premix plant and the construction of our new feed mill. At the end of the morning session, junior project manager Zoltán Hatvan summarised our experiences in using forage sorghum in the feed of dairy cows. Based on feedback from our guests, the morning session was very inspiring, and the mutual sharing of knowledge proved to be a source of valuable information for both us, as hosts, and the growers.

Plenary sessions held on the opening day of the Congress (8 October 2025) covered the current situation and the future prospects of the European and the Hungarian sorghum industry. The afternoon program was split into three sections: feed, food and diversification. The speakers at the workshops shared their practical experiences with sorghum use, while roundtable discussions encouraged direct interaction between professionals. The second day (9 October 2025) started with a poster session where the latest research results were presented. Bonafarm-Bábolna Takarmány Ltd. had also prepared a poster, presenting the results of trials using sorghum in the feed of broiler ducks. The work of the authors – Dr. Anita Juhász, Dr. Orsolya Varga and Péter Kovács – sparked interest in many of the participants and proved to be a good starting point for further discussions. The morning roundtable discussions highlighted the RiSorgo Project, an initiative that evaluates sorghum’s role in supply chains from crop production to food processing. The aim of the RiSorgo Project is to stabilise sorghum’s competitiveness on the long term as a sustainable raw material for the European food, feed and energy sectors. The presentations and discussions have underscored that sorghum is not only an alternative crop but is of strategical importance for European agriculture. Sorghum is gaining increasing attention due to its drought tolerance, low input requirement and versatility. Experts also agreed that Hungary might play a key role in the future development of sorghum production, use and processing in Europe.

Dr. Orsolya Varga Head of Development Bonafarm-Bábolna Takarmány Ltd.