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.

You can listen to my interview with Tom below.

I have started the conference photo album too: USGC International Marketing Conference Photo Album