The U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team visited a nearly new poultry operation today. The owner is pictured on the right. With the assistance of Morocco’s Green Plan for agricultural development Ahmed Addioui has built several of these poultry farms to raise chickens for the market. Each building houses approximately 15,000 birds. I spoke with him via USGC Consultant Abdellah …
Morocco Has Good Grain Market Potential
The Deputy Minister of Agricultural Production for Morocco is Ahmed Bentouhami, pictured on left, who met with the U.S Grains Council Corn Mission team for dinner. We had a very informal discussion as we sampled more wonderful Moroccan food. Mr. Bentouhami’s comments are translated in the audio file below by USGC Consultant Mustapha El Youssoufi, pictured on the right. He …
Just Say No to PRRS
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (BIVI) is hosting its second annual “Area Regional Control of PRRS” seminar in Chicago today, prior to the start of the 2009 International PRRS Symposium. The theme this year is “From Ideas to Implementation” – actually getting the concept of area regional control (ARC) on the ground and running. BIVI has taken an active role in the …
Zimfo Bytes
Midwest Direct Marketing, Inc., and Farm Journal Media jointly announced that Midwest Direct will represent Farm Journal’s FarmReach database to national list brokers and managers. Minnesota Farmers Helping Families recently donated 125,000 pounds of cheese and ground pork to Hunger Solutions Minnesota. For the 2010 growing season, growers using Headline fungicide will receive returns on their investment in multiple ways. …
New Shipping Port In Morocco
Morocco is nearing completion of a major new port facility south of Casablanca. The El Jaddah Port was one of the stops for the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission. While there we met with Ammar Bouchaib, pictured left, who is not only involved in shipping grain into the country but also has a large storage facility for feed products. I …
Expert Advice From David Asbridge
Let me introduce you to the David Asbridge and his United Soybean Board, Expert Advice column – Market Production Analysis & Market Outlook. David operates NPK Fertilizer Advisory Service, an independent consulting firm that covers the crop and fertilizer markets, both domestically and globally. Here’s an excerpt from his current column. The already record large U.S. soybean crop just keeps …
Tools for Producers Facing Volatile Prices
I attended the 61st Annual South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association’s Convention and Trade Show this week in Sioux Falls, S.D. where we discussed beef industry hot topics such as estate planning, lawsuit protection, money saving ideas and the economy. In a speech given during the Pfizer sponsored Cattlemen’s College, Dr. John Lawrence of the IA Beef Center presented, “Economic Outlook & …
Shopping in Morocco
After our morning meetings at the Morocco Ministry of Agriculture the U.S. Grains Council team got a little time off to “shop.” We wandered through an area of shops and I did make a few purchases that included a couple of quality Fez’s for friends of mine. Here’s a picture of some fruit stands we passed along the way. The …
Morocco Ag Attache Working For U.S. Agribusiness
The Regional Agricultural Attache for the United States in Morocco is Hassan Ahmed. I first met Hassan when he was posted to Cairo and I was traveling on a USDA FAS trip that included stops in Cairo and Alexandria. I haven’t seen him since then until today but we still remember the “camel story” among others. Some of you have …
Morocco’s Office of Cereals
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, …