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.

USGC International Marketing Conference Photo Album

You can listen to my interview with Keith below.