b'diversity of sorghum, Dahlberg specu- rather than seven or eight, he says. We lates, may be present in the consolidationwould also be able to maintain almost all of of the largest sorghum seed companies.the exotic germplasm which will, ultimately, A big concern is the consolidation ofgive us more genotypes to look at. seed companies, he says. There are fewerSexton-Bowser also shares that sor-and fewer seed companies in sorghum.ghum offers untapped benefits because Depending on the genetic pools that eachof the types of environments and ecolo-of the companies have, they may be nar- gies accessions are generated from. She rowing the genetic pool of sorghum seednotes that while the agriculture industry in the countryit really depends on howhas made considerable genetic gain diverse the pool of inbred lines is that com- in both corn and soybeans, there has panies are working with.been less selection pressure and fewer resources dedicated to the sorghum Opportunities for Sorghum Abound cropproviding much more unexploited Today, the opportunities for sorghumgenetic potential to be mobilized as tech-seem to far outweigh the crops chal- nology in the seed bag for U.S. famers. lenges and limitations, despite the tech- The one thing that we all need to nology advantages held by other crops. Sarah Sexton-Bowser serves as managingremember about genetic improvement While the technology of transgenicdirector for the Center for Sorghumwithin a crop is that there is a give-and-modification has allowed corn andImprovement. take system of trade-offs, she says. As soybeans to dominate acres across theyou make more advanced genetic gains United States, it will likely not hold thethat gene editing could be beneficial toon a certain crop, you are potentially fore-same opportunity for sorghum, Dahlbergenhancing genetic improvement in thegoing future opportunities and diversity. suggests.crop.Its all about balance as we build out a Transgenic modification isnt the onlyIf we know what gene to turn off, wepipeline for sorghum that can put into technology on the horizon for the geneticcan make a plant photo period insensitiveplay the genetic diversity that we arent improvement of sorghum. Dahlberg saysand convert exotic lines in a year or two,leveraging today.SWCOM PA N Y PROF I L EA New World of Sorting TechnologyVirginias VMek is focused on building and supporting high-speed industrial machines and two of those machines are changing the way the seed industry looks at high-speed counting and color sorting.The new Abacus High Speed Counter is a versatile machine that is very easy to set up and features an intuitive software interface. The touchscreen interface allows operators the ability to control the device right from the display. Its small and can be placed virtually anywhere. Its one of the fastest counters on the market, and can count up to 1,000 corn and soybean seeds per second.Its integrated legal-for-trade scale can be run manually offline or integrated into an automated packaging line. The Abacus can weight and count a three-pound sample in less than 30 seconds.In addition VMeks Metrix Analytic Color Sorter is also making waves within the industry with its unparalleled out-of-the-box refuge separation capabilities. A full color optical sorter and product analyzer in one machine, the Metrix divides the product into two streams using high-speed ejec-tors. The Metrix software calculates and logs detailed spatial and color information on each item. A remote software option is available, so the system can be controlled from anywhere.The heart of the Metrix is the technologically advanced viewer. It uses trade secret On-Axis Viewing, which enables exact imaging fromOur goal as a company is to build simple, low-maintenance solu-both sides of the product with no lost features. The low-profile designtions that meet the needs of the marketplace using hi-tech compo-allows for a compact machine footprint and efficient product ejections.nents and devices and sophisticated software, says VMek founder In addition, the viewer uses the latest in LED technology for superiorand general manager Kent Lovvorn.image quality and repeatability.vmek.com60/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2019'