It is likely that some ancestors of today's cereal grains grew among the wild plants of Africa, including the African native, grain sorghum. Known as one of the oldest crops, the first seeds may have been brought into the United States during the late 1700's on slave ships. It is believed that Benjamin Franklin introduced the first grain sorghum crop to the United States. Sorghum is a major feed grain crop in the US, Mexico, Argentina, Australia, and South Africa and remains the staple food of many places in Africa and Asia.
Sorghum is a member of the grass family.
There are many varieties. Broomcorn is a kind of sorghum grown for the brush or the branches of the seed cluster. Fibers from broomcorn are used to make brooms. Sweet sorghums or sorgos, have sweet juicy stems. They are grown especially for the production of sorghum syrup.