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 …
Diverse Transportation in Morocco
One of our guides here in Morocco says the country is very diverse. One of the examples he used was that you might see a BMW stopped at a traffic light side by side with one of these. He was right. We saw a lot of carts being pulled by donkeys, mules and horses today even in downtown Casablanca. They …
Moroccan Shepherds
Besides the rocks I think I saw more shepherds today than almost anything else as we drove around Morocco. The fields and hills are covered with them. There were children watching a flock, women, men, groups of people. You name it. Sheep are pretty much everywhere. When we drove into Casablanca this afternoon, a town of over 4 million, I …
Moon Over El Jadida
Here’s the moon over the Atlantic as seen from my hotel room here in El Jadida. Last night we met with the local area USGC representatives and ate a very good Moroccan meal. I’ve never eaten lamb that tasted so good. We learned what a growing market Morocco is for U.S. grain and will be seeing evidence of that in …
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 …
Following The USGC With New Media
This is the U.S. Grains Council Pioneer Mission group I traveled with back in 1998. Our fearless leader then was Rick Tolman (pictured in the center), now CEO of the National Corn Growers Association. We toured Brazil, Columbia and Mexico. It’s hard to believe that just eleven years ago I didn’t have a digital camera and website to post onto. …
Getting Ready For A Corn Mission
The Grain Board will be one of the locations you can follow the upcoming U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission. What’s that? It’s going to be me traveling along with growers and organizational representatives from Virginia, Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Missouri to Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. We’ll be seeing the USGC in action and I’m along to help document …
Harvest Photos From U.S. Grains Council
If you’re looking for some photos of the harvest then look to the U.S. Grains Council Flickr set of 2009 Harvest Photos. The USGC is collecting photos from U.S. farmers all over the country. Thanks to all of you that submitted photos. Remember that we are still accepting photos until Dec. 1, 2009. This photo is of Dave and Sue …
Last Day For Ken Hobbie
My first stop at the NAFB Trade Talk was the U.S. Grains Council booth. I interviewed Ken Hobbie and Rick Fruth, Chairman. Today is Ken’s last day on the job as President/CEO. Let’s all wish him well as he starts “relaxing.” In my interview they talk about the current activities of USGC, including international trade development. Speaking of which, I’ll …