The Moroccan government’s “Office of Cereals” is led by Mr. Abdelali Aziz, General Director (pictured center). He spoke to the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission this morning about the status of corn imports into Morocco and touched on quantity, quality and standards. He also commented on the impact of the USGC’s programs on the poultry and beef sectors. He says, …
International News About Soybeans
John Baize, Baize & Associates is a regular columnist for the United Soybean Board’s Expert Advice. His company specializes in international agricultural trading and policy consulting on oilseeds and soybeans and including biotechnology policy, trade policy, agriculture policy and market development activities. In his most recent column you’ll find information about China. A lot has been said about the impact …
New Vs. Old Style Moroccan Feedlot
The Ammar Beef Feedlot is owned by Ammar Abd El Fettah, picture on the right. He’s standing next to local U.S. Grains Council Consultant Mustapha El Youssoufi. The feedlot was our first stop on our Corn Mission tour of Morocco this morning. Ammar has been in the beef business through his family which goes back generations. I interviewed them after …
Growth of Grain Imports In Morocco
The Director for the Mediterranean and Africa for the U.S. Grains Council is Kurt Shultz. He’s been our main guide and font of information so far. I spoke with Kurt this morning to get an overview of agriculture in Morocco and the potential it holds for U.S. grain producers. He says that the USGC became involved in Morocco about 15 …
AGMasters Conference Report on Global Ag
Here’s another report from the AGMasters Conference blog, this one written by University of Illinois Ag Comm major Alyssa Eade: Although to many farmers across the Midwest it may seem that agriculture in the US is struggling, Murray Wise, CEO and Chairman of the Westchester Group, is enthusiastic about the future of agriculture. Wise spoke on the future for global …
Optimizing Corn Yields Report from AGMasters
Since the students did such a great job of blogging the AGMasters Conference, I am just going to re-post a few of their posts here, instead of doing it myself. See photos from the conference on the AGMasters Photo Album This one was written by Megan Ott and Jared Roskamp: Participants from this year’s AGMasters Conference had the privilege to …
Meet The USGC Corn Mission Team
Here is the 2009 U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team. Ready to rumble in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. This photo was taken today in Frankfurt airport. We have arrived at our first Moroccan destination and are getting ready for a meal and initial briefing on our activities. I’ll know more in a little while and will be posting some more …
Speaking For Agriculture
Speaking For Agriculture was the title of a joint panel discussion at the NAMA Trends In Agriculture Conference and NAFB Convention. The moderator was Lindsay Hill, ABN Radio. The session focused on how consumers perceive farmers and agriculture and what can be done and is being done to communicate a positive message about agriculture in a society that is increasingly …
Mapping The Swine Genome
The Vice President of the National Pork Board is Gene Nemecheck. I met him at the NAFB Trade Talk session in Kansas City, MO. Gene is a veterinarian with Tyson. I asked him “What’s new with the Pork Board?” and he says that the swine genomic project just recently reached completion. He says that after years of work by a …
Overview of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica
To get a complete overview of Boehringer Inghelheim Vetmedica Dr. Steve Peterson, DVM, Senior Manager, spoke to the media gathered in St. Joseph, MO recently. Steve started out his presentation showing us a Flomax commercial as an example of how diverse the parent company is. BI is a family owned company that was started in 1885 and he calls the …