USGC Chairman Rick Fruth commented, “By establishing an office in Latin America and the Caribbean region, the Council is strategically positioning itself to defend U.S. markets while simultaneously enhancing the quality of life of our trading partners.”
Kurt Shultz (far left in the photo) was named the first director of the Panama City office. Shultz has worked for the Council since 1999 and previously served for seven years as USGC regional director for the Mediterranean and Africa before transitioning to his current post.
In addition to its new office in Panama, the U.S. Grains Council has international offices in nine other countries, including China, Egypt, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Taiwan, Tunisia and Jordan. See more photos of the grand opening here on the USGC’s Flickr photo album.
The U.S. Grains Council (USGC ) made a significant announcement during a press conference at Commodity Classic last week with the announcement of key speakers for the upcoming Global Food Security Symposium, which is sponsored by the organization. USGC Chairman Rick Fruth confirmed that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is expected to deliver the keynote address at the symposium, scheduled for April 7, 2010, in Tokyo, Japan. This announcement came shortly after the Global Food Security Symposium was formally introduced in Tokyo by USGC President and CEO Thomas C. Dorr and U.S. Ambassador to Japan John V. Roos.
The Symposium will gather U.S. and Japanese government, agribusiness and biotechnology leaders for a first-ever, day-long examination of how international cooperation, policy and technology can be used to feed a burgeoning world population. More specifically, Fruth said, “The key points of discussion will be, how to leverage biotechnology and other emerging technologies to improve the quality of life and global economy, how the world’s economic powers can harness these technologies for the benefits of developing countries around the world and how can we build upon this these past successes to increase food security around the world.”
Fruth also noted that sustainability and biotechnology are an inherent part of this symposium as you can’t have global food security without using biotechnology or develop new technologies that are not sustainable.
The Symposium is part of the “Partners in Agriculture” series of events being held throughout Japan from March through May of 2010. The “Partners in Agriculture” events celebrate the successful, enduring agricultural trade partnership between the United States and Japan. This event goes hand-in-hand with the mission of USGC which is to develop overseas markets for U.S. corn, barley and sorghum and enbable trade around the world for these commodities.
The new U.S. Grains Council senior vice president of operations and industry relations is Keith Heffernan, pictured in the middle here. He was chief of staff for the Farm Credit Administration. Keith was also the first executive director for the Iowa Corn Growers Association; director of public affairs for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation; assistant director for the Center of Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University; and chief of staff for USDA’s Rural Development. In other words, he’s got a lot of qualifications to work in this new position.
I spoke with Keith here at the International Marketing Conference. He says participation is good and there’s a lot of excitement about exports. Looking forward he says there will be more attention and need for attention on exports.
Here at the International Marketing Conference and Membership Meeting of the U.S. Grains Council we received an international program overview which consisted of presentations from various country directors. Seen here is Dr. Hussein Soliman, Egypt Director.
Each presenter gave an overview of their region, the projects they’re working on and the outlook for the future.
I have recorded their presentations for you so that you may listen to them or download.
The Hon. Carole L. Brookins, Managing Director of Public Capital Advisors, LLC, gave the keynote speech at 7th International Marketing Conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Her presentation is filled with facts, figures and her personal outlook on the future. She brought the group a unique perspective about how we may not agree with a lot of what is happening on issues like climate change but there are considerations that we should be making that include ways to profit in spite of them.
She summarizes challenges facing the industry that include energy security movements, groups pushing consumers to a vegetarian diet, consumer perception that food is bad and more. So from one of her slides she offered the following:
Where Do We Go From Here?
• Re‐balancing the global axis of power and markets
• Re‐inventing energy and technology that Runs our world
• Restructuring production and markets for the food we eat, where we produce it, who controls it and how it is traded.
Both Your Risk and Reward will be Multiplied. Your Complexity of Choices and Competition will be Magnified.
This morning we streamed the opening general session of the U.S. Grains Council International Marketing Conference and Membership Meeting. I did it in two parts. In this first one you can listen to USGC Chairman Rick Fruth welcome attendees and introduce President/CEO Tom Dorr. Tom proceeded to make remarks about the purpose of the conference and posed questions the group will need to answer over the next several days.
We’re celebrating 50 years at the U.S. Grains Council. I’m in Puerto Vallarta for the 7th USGC International Marketing Conference and 50th Annual Membership Meeting. Tomorrow morning I’ll be going AgWired Live TV with the opening general session starting at 8am, central. So tune if you’d like. I’ll also be recording the session too. If you’re an ag journalist please feel free to utilize any of the pics or audio I’ll be posting over the next several days here and on The Grain Board.
So we’ve got AgWired On The Beach which sounds like a very good adult beverage. Actually it really is AgWired on the Beach. I was sweating and swatting mosquitos while it’s supposed to be snowing at home. It’s a tough job but . . .
To give us a preview of what this conference is all about and what the issues are I spoke with USGC CEO and President, Tom Dorr. He had been in meetings all day today but still looked fresh and ready to go. He says that this is a combined membership meeting and meeting to create their Unified Export Strategy. They bring all their country directors in along with their advisory teams and delegate members. They analyze market opportunities and challenges and put it all together into a report for the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service which helps facilitate their ability to do international market development work. In my interview with Tom you’ll hear him point out some of the challenges in the current international marketplace.
For those of you who didn’t get to follow along with the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission trip I went on last month I have prepared a slide show that will give you a pretty good overview of all we saw and learned. In the show you can hear from some of the key individuals I interviewed including the U.S. corn growers participants.
Since I just went on a U.S. Grains Council trip to Morocco, Egypt and Jordan I was interested to see that this week’s episode of America’s Heartland features Ohio farmers Dave and Sue Roehm who saw what we saw and that is the investments in their producer checkoff programs hard at work.
“This trip was a big revelation to me. It was phenomenal the impact export market development programs orchestrated by the Council and U.S. Wheat are having overseas,” said Sue. “When I look at our corn and wheat in Ohio, I will have a whole different perspective. My family’s harvest is truly improving lives thousands of miles away.”
The program airs this week and is available online. You can see if it’s scheduled in your area here. It is also airing on RFD-TV on Wednesday, Jan. 6, and again on Sunday, Jan. 10.
The U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team is home safe and sound. It was a very interesting 2 weeks of visits with American grain customers and others in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. You might expect these countries to be “all the same.” However, each country has a very distinct culture and that includes everything from food to how they drive.
A consistent theme was the growth potential in these markets. That’s why the USGC has people on the ground working to develop new business opportunities for American farmers. After our team’s final dinner I spoke with them as a group to get their final thoughts on what they’d like farmers back home to know about their experience. We just went around the table starting with the corn grower members. Here are some of their final thoughts:
The main thing is the relationship the USGC staff has with people in all these countries. They appreciate what the USGC does.
I got to see what the USGC does on a personal level. These ddgs programs are working well. I hope they’ll buy more.
I sure learned a lot about the legwork that goes on on the ground here for these guys. There’s still some work to be done.
We spent our time well and did something that will benefit everyone back home. The USGC work has been an important part of keeping our exports going.
I think the potential for increased sales is there. The network is in place and working well.
Demand looks strong and will continue for a long time to come.
Shannon Schaffer, the USGC staff representative on our trip added these thoughts:
These guys worked really hard on this trip. Lots of time spent on the road and with the customers we service. They served as ambassadors for the USGC and corn growers specifically.
For my part I want to thank the USGC for allowing me the opportunity to go on this trip and provide documentation of the trip. Besides the stories here on AgWired I have also been posting onto The Grain Board. It looks like I produced a little less than 3,000 photos, and a combination of 50 audio/video interviews and clips. Hopefully it has provided you with a better understanding of the international development work of the U.S. Grains Council and these markets in particular.
You can listen to my final interview with the Corn Mission Team below:
The political and safety situation in Iraq today is making it very difficult to conduct business within the country, especially for companies and farmers that would like to export U.S. feed grains into the market. However, that’s going to change in the next couple years according to some Iraqi businessmen that the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team met with. We met with them over a dinner of Masgouf, which you see cooking around this open pit fire. Masgouf is a traditional Iraq dish of fresh, whole fish that are seasoned with salt, pepper and tamarind and slow cooked on stakes around a fire. The fish used for our meal were carp.
While our Masgouf was cooking I spoke with one of the board members of the Iraq company that was represented at the dinner. He says they have always imported from America. He says American grain is “the best and very clean.” He says the market is somewhat limited right now but will get better in the future. He says that once things stabilize their poultry sector will grow quickly. He enjoyed meeting with American corn growers.
You can listen to my interview with the Iraq businessman below:
When the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team toured the Hamoudeh Group dairy northeast of Amman they saw the open yards, milking parlor and as you’ll see in this video clip, the calf barn.
When the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team visited a feed mill this morning owned by the Hamoudeh Group they saw some state of the art grain testing. The company has infrared grain testing equipment which quickly analyzes a sample and provides a printout of a number of the qualities most important to them.
You can see a sample being analyzed in this video clip:
Our team will be meeting with some representatives from Iraq this evening at dinner but I probably won’t have time to post again until getting home this weekend. Until then . . .
The largest integrated dairy producer in Jordan is Hamoudeh Group and the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team visited their largest facility northeast of Amman which houses about 4,000 cows. Before getting a tour we heard a presentation from Marwan Hawari, pictured center showing some grain test results to team members, at their feed mill. I’ll have a video clip from that location to post soon.
In his comments Marwan describes the Hamoudeh Group company which is involved in a lot of different enterprises, including poultry production and being the local Pfizer animal health representative company. You’ll also hear him express some concerns with finding some toxins in recent shipments of U.S. grain. He asked the group what he should expect in future shipments.
The National Poultry Company in Jordan is managed by Mousa Wakileh who met with the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team. Mousa would like to see more education of traders and producers in order to increase imports of corn from the U.S. He’s also predicting a 50 percent increase in poultry consumption per capita in Jordan over the next five years which would also increase demand for American feed grains. According to Mousa, America is the preferred supplier of corn in Jordan.
I recorded a portion of Mousa’s comments which you can listen to below:
The USDA Ag Specialist on the ground in Jordan is Mohamed N. Khraishy. He took time to meet with our Corn Mission team after we arrived this afternoon. He says that he acts mainly as a facilitator on our behalf or as he puts it, “See me as the grease between the wheels.”
I recorded part of our discussion with Mohamed for you to listen to. He says that quality doesn’t seem to be much of an issue for feed grain imports but that price does matter. The global economic recession has had an impact even here. He’s afraid that we might see a short term decline in American grain imports. To avoid fluctuations in the market he sees a real need for more storage facilities. He fields lots of questions about finding an American company that may want to invest in storage here in Jordan.
You can listen to part of our discussion with Mohamed below:
The Regional Director for the U.S. Grains Council coordinating our Corn Mission visit to Jordan is Joe O’Brien. Joe covers the Middle East and part of India.
He says that Jordan is “one of the bright spots of the Middle East.” There are biotech issues in the region though, especially toward Turkey and India. He says it’s a very competitive market with recent pressure coming from the Black Sea area. During the next couple days we’ll get to see a Jordanian dairy and meet with the poultry industry.
Fellow Show Me State resident and corn grower from the southeast part of Missouri, Jim Stuever, took a few moments to provide his thoughts on how the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team is doing after arriving in Amman, Jordan. In the photo, Jim (pictured left), is listening to a presentation we’re having from Mohamed Kraishy, USDA Ag Specialist in Jordan.
Jim has seen a very diverse set of conditions from country to country as we’ve traveled. That means that market development efforts are going to be very different in each country too. After seeing the USGC “on the ground” he says that they’re increasing the environment for corn and corn by-products which is helping keep our markets viable. Jim thinks that corn grower investment in the USGC reinforces and increases foreign market use of American feed grains.
The final visit for the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team was a dairy farm in Egypt. This is the Mirhom Farag Farm, owned by Suzanne Basilios. In the video we walk through the dairy with the farm manager so you can see how the animals are kept in open lots. They are feeding hay and a lot of corn mixed with ddgs.
The U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission Team has concluded visiting Egypt. Tomorrow it’s on to Jordan. Before finishing today we sat down for our debrief which includes documenting our observations and making recommendations based on what we saw. Those will be provided to USGC in the form of a final report. I have updated the Eqypt photo album from our visits today.
To get some producer feedback on our time in Egypt I interviewed Darren Armstrong, North Carolina. Darren says the biggest thing you see immediately is the potential. He says that in just a couple of years we should see significant growth. He says we need to keep our quality up and take care of the market by supporting Dr. Soliman, USGC Country Director. He thought the feedlots we visited were well taken care of and are becoming more efficient. He’s glad to see how ddgs have been so well accepted here and that is good for American producers. He says it’s, “been like a look back in history.” He compares where a lot of the Eqypt countryside is with where we were at in America not that long ago.
Commodity Classic took place in Anaheim, CA. You'll find all of Chuck, Cindy and Joanna's photos here.
Happy Ag Week
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
In this week's program I interview Linda Tank, CHS, Inc., who is Chair of the Agriculture Council of America, the group coordinating National Ag Day. Learn more about their activities, especially this week in Washington, DC.
U.S. Grains Council has officially opened a new international office in Panama City, Panama to serve Latin America and the Caribbean Region. 
and 
The new U.S. Grains Council senior vice president of operations and industry relations is Keith Heffernan, pictured in the middle here. He was chief of staff for the Farm Credit Administration. Keith was also the first executive director for the Iowa Corn Growers Association; director of public affairs for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation; assistant director for the Center of Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University; and chief of staff for USDA’s Rural Development. In other words, he’s got a lot of qualifications to work in this new position.
Here at the International Marketing Conference and Membership Meeting of the U.S. Grains Council we received an international program overview which consisted of presentations from various country directors. Seen here is Dr. Hussein Soliman, Egypt Director.
The Hon. Carole L. Brookins, Managing Director of Public Capital Advisors, LLC, gave the keynote speech at 7th International Marketing Conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Her presentation is filled with facts, figures and her personal outlook on the future. She brought the group a unique perspective about how we may not agree with a lot of what is happening on issues like climate change but there are considerations that we should be making that include ways to profit in spite of them.
This morning we streamed the opening general session of the U.S. Grains Council International Marketing Conference and Membership Meeting. I did it in two parts. In this first one you can listen to USGC Chairman Rick Fruth welcome attendees and introduce President/CEO Tom Dorr. Tom proceeded to make remarks about the purpose of the conference and posed questions the group will need to answer over the next several days.
We’re celebrating 50 years at the U.S. Grains Council. I’m in Puerto Vallarta for the 7th USGC International Marketing Conference and 50th Annual Membership Meeting. Tomorrow morning I’ll be going 
Since I just went on a U.S. Grains Council trip to Morocco, Egypt and Jordan I was interested to see that 
The U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team is home safe and sound. It was a very interesting 2 weeks of visits with American grain customers and others in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. You might expect these countries to be “all the same.” However, each country has a very distinct culture and that includes everything from food to how they drive.
The political and safety situation in Iraq today is making it very difficult to conduct business within the country, especially for companies and farmers that would like to export U.S. feed grains into the market. However, that’s going to change in the next couple years according to some Iraqi businessmen that the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team met with. We met with them over a dinner of Masgouf, which you see cooking around this open pit fire. Masgouf is a traditional Iraq dish of fresh, whole fish that are seasoned with salt, pepper and tamarind and slow cooked on stakes around a fire. The fish used for our meal were carp.
The largest integrated dairy producer in Jordan is Hamoudeh Group and the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team visited their largest facility northeast of Amman which houses about 4,000 cows. Before getting a tour we heard a presentation from Marwan Hawari, pictured center showing some grain test results to team members, at their feed mill. I’ll have a video clip from that location to post soon.
The National Poultry Company in Jordan is managed by Mousa Wakileh who met with the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team. Mousa would like to see more education of traders and producers in order to increase imports of corn from the U.S. He’s also predicting a 50 percent increase in poultry consumption per capita in Jordan over the next five years which would also increase demand for American feed grains. According to Mousa, America is the preferred supplier of corn in Jordan.
The USDA Ag Specialist on the ground in Jordan is Mohamed N. Khraishy. He took time to meet with our Corn Mission team after we arrived this afternoon. He says that he acts mainly as a facilitator on our behalf or as he puts it, “See me as the grease between the wheels.”
The Regional Director for the U.S. Grains Council coordinating our Corn Mission visit to Jordan is Joe O’Brien. Joe covers the Middle East and part of India. 
Fellow Show Me State resident and corn grower from the southeast part of Missouri, Jim Stuever, took a few moments to provide his thoughts on how the 
The U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission Team has concluded visiting Egypt. Tomorrow it’s on to Jordan. Before finishing today we sat down for our debrief which includes documenting our observations and making recommendations based on what we saw. Those will be provided to USGC in the form of a final report. I have updated the Eqypt photo album from our visits today.
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
