Broomcorn was apparently developed in the Mediterranean region during the Middle Ages. (The original sorghums are thought to have come from Africa or India.) It was growing in Italy before the year 1596, and soon thereafter it was being cultivated in Spain, France, Austria, and southern Germany.

Before this sorghum's arrival, Europe's houses, warehouses, front steps, streets, and other places that accumulate dust, dirt, leaves, and horse manure were swept with loose bundles of straw. These not only fell apart quickly, they lacked the strength and springiness to properly flick dust and dirt out of cracks and crevices. Broomcorn, therefore, may well have been one of the most beneficial advances in European public health.

In the United States broomcorn became, if anything, even more important than in Europe. Benjamin Franklin is credited with introducing this strange sorghum. He apparently brought the seed from England in 1725 (when he was only 19) and grew the first broomcorn in North America. It took hold, however. In 1781, Thomas Jefferson listed broomcorn among six important agricultural crops of Virginia. It has been the basis for billions of long-lasting brushes and brooms ever since.

In the competition with man-made fibers and the vacuum cleaner—both of which should in theory have swept it aside—broomcorn is holding its own in the United States. Today, products made of this sorghum are used in millions of American households, warehouses, stores, factories, steel mills, smelters, cotton mills, and barns. They range from whisk brooms to yard brooms for rough sweeping and special purposes.

Considerable development of broomcorn subsequently took place in the United States, but apparently few (if any) other countries have given the crop much attention. This is certainly surprising and should be investigated. Dozens of countries—from Rwanda to Russia—still sweep with bundles of straw. For them, too, this sorghum with the wiry flowers might be a boon.

The broomcorn plant is unlike other sorghums. The stem is dry and hard. The kernels are small and are often enclosed in long ellipsoid husklike coverings (glumes).

The plant has been typecast as a source of brooms and brushes, but it could very well have other equally important uses. For instance, broomcorn stalks are used for paper in France. Reportedly, excellent yields of fiber are obtained by planting the crop very densely. The pulp is used to manufacture kraft paper, newsprint, and fiberboard.

Danish scientists have also made a good paneling using the chips from internodes. Similar products are beginning to be explored in Zimbabwe as well. However, insufficient work has been done to really know the possibilities.