The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s 2025 Impact Forum was held this week in Washington, D.C. Nate Blum, CEO of the Sorghum United Foundation, attended the conference. Nebraska Public Media’s Dale Johnson caught up with him after the forum.
Nate Blum: With these conversations for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, it was less about the tariff policies, and it was more about the importance of projecting soft power through foreign aid programs and diplomacy. So two different conversations there. Nebraska is the fifth largest producer of sorghum in the U.S. But the important thing to remember is that those markets are typically artificially held down anyway, because China buys 93% of U.S. sorghum, so they typically are able to dictate that price.
Dale Johnson: You've used a term that I'm not familiar with, soft power. What does that mean?
Blum: Well, soft power is actually probably more important than our hard power. The thing with soft power is that we think about diplomacy, we think about food aid, we think about economic development. These are tools which allow us, as Americans and as a country, or any country really, to project their influence through assistance, aid and prosperous development. And this creates friends, in addition to not just, not just projects, not just helping people, but it allows us to extend our influence within a region without having to resort to military force. And quite frankly, it does so in a way that it lifts up that region so that they can then project those same values that we've shown them.
Johnson: One point of emphasis, it's my understanding that you took with you to Washington was global engagement. I immediately thought of the Trump administration's demolition of USAID. With sorghum being a popular food grain for people in Asia and Africa, what impact has the administration's actions had on the sorghum market?
Blum: Well, in particular, I mean there is sorghum that goes that goes into USAID programs. In fact, I just met with a former USAID staffer yesterday who asked me a very similar question. But again, with China buying 93% of US sorghum and 90% of global sorghum, the impacts are very, very minimal. Now, what I will tell you is on a couple fronts. One, I think everyone we met with, and even people who spoke at this USGLC conference, I think we all agree there's nuance. USAID did very, very good things. There were also programs that did not necessarily align with the mission and values of the U.S. Everyone agrees that there was brokenness. Now the approach has been heavy handed in how we correct that, but finding ways forward, I think, is something that I did see here in Washington. People were very eager and keen to do.
Johnson: What damage has been done, how much of it is irreparable and how much of it could be managed? Should an effort be resumed to heal that relationship?
Blum: Oh, I don't think any damage is necessarily irreparable. And again, I think it's worth noting the nuance. There's good, there's bad, there's in between. Now what this moment does allow these systems and these policy makers to do is to go back and look and see, okay, what works, what doesn't work. Now the real concern is how long does it take to rebuild? Because while we're waiting to rebuild these systems, that's when other foreign entities get involved. That's when they fill the gap, right? So your Chinas and your Russias, the minute you the U.S. steps out. That's the moment that they step in. So the question is, while we're rebuilding programs, how can we be expedient about it and get those ones that really make a difference right away? And I will tell you one thing that the USAID cuts did impact immediately. I was just recently in Kenya, and I was actually at the US embassy, and we received kind of a desperate plea that there was a refugee center, a refugee camp from South Sudan that had been nearly immediately cut off from food aid, and so now there were all these people were looking for new places to which to get their grain. So I mean these issues, we can talk about them politically, and it's great that we're insulated and able to do so, but there are very real world impacts, you know in the interim that we need to consider the expediency of.
Johnson: Joining me from Washington D.C. on his way back to Nebraska. Nate Blum, CEO of the Sorghum United Foundation. I'm Dale Johnson, Nebraska Public Media News.