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US Grains Council President and CEO Speaks at FOODEX JAPAN Event
At a news conference held March 2, before the opening of the FOODEX JAPAN trade show, U.S. Grains Council President and CEO Thomas C. Dorr joined the U.S. Ambassador to Japan and several Japanese food industry leaders to announce the upcoming “Partners in Agriculture” events.
The “Partners in Agriculture” events celebrate 50 years of the U.S., Japan agricultural trade relationship. “Partners in Agriculture” events will take place between March and June 2010, and are organized by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
In his remarks, Mr. Dorr highlighted the “Global Food Security Symposium” scheduled for April 7, at the Hotel Okura in Tokyo, Japan. This symposium will bring top U.S. and Japanese government and industry leaders together to discuss how the U.S.-Japan partnership can build upon its past successes to increase food security around the world.
“FOODEX JAPAN was a fitting stage to talk about the ‘Partners in Agriculture’ initiative, and the long and mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and Japan that has spanned more than six decades,” said Dorr. “Our history of agricultural trade is a marvelous success story. It is an example of how effective Japanese and FAS leadership, in conjunction with cooperators such as the U.S. Grains Council, has made possible a variety of nutritional choices for the Japanese people, while developing a strong economic infrastructure for both countries. Now we must look forward together to extend the benefits of this partnership to others in developing countries.”
According to Dorr, the Council, representing the corn, sorghum and barley industries in international market development, is “proud” to be a part of the “Partners in Agriculture” events. “We are rooted in one of the fascinating historical highlights of our countries’ agricultural trade relationship,” said Dorr, who added that future efforts will only continue to build on this foundation of success.
“Trade relationships like the one the United States enjoys with Japan have a widespread, positive political and economic ripple effect in both countries,” explained Dorr. “Both countries benefit in terms of success in their agricultural production. They have also benefitted in the creation of infrastructure, technology and jobs to support not just food and agriculture, but the economic development of both countries. That’s why we seek to emulate the success of this relationship around the world – to improve the quality of life, nutritional choice and economic growth for all people.”
For more information about the “Partners in Agriculture” events, visit www.partners-in-agriculture.org.
Morocco Tenders 7,000 Metric Tons of US Sorghum
As a direct result of U.S. Grains Council programs, 7,000 metric tons (276,000 bushels) of U.S. sorghum was tendered to Morocco last week for mid-March delivery. Special checkoff funds from Council member United Sorghum Checkoff Program allowed staff from CasaGrains, the Moroccan poultry feed mill and production facility that tendered the sorghum, to travel to the United States and Mexico last November to view U.S. sorghum production and use firsthand.
“Moroccan producers need confidence-building activities for sorghum use in their poultry and ruminant feed,” said Alvaro Cordero, USGC manager of international operations for marketing. “They had some bad experiences with non-U.S. sorghum in the past. With funding from our membership, we are able to connect with some of the major importers to show the high quality product and the reliability the United States can provide to meet their feed and food needs.”
Council Celebrates Phenomenal Agricultural Trade Relationship with Japan
By Mike Callahan, U.S. Grains Council Senior Director of International Operations
When natural disaster strikes, it leaves in its wake a country and its people short of food, water and security. This was the case in 1959, when two typhoons devastated one of Japan’s centers of agriculture production, the Yamanashi prefecture. To help re-establish the prefecture’s once-robust hog production industry, hog and grain producers in Iowa, assisted by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, airlifted 36 breeding hogs and shipped tens of thousands of bushels of donated feed grain to the area. It was this “hog lift” event that laid the foundation for a prosperous trading relationship and partnership between the United States and Japan.
“Partners in Agriculture” is a commemoration of the phenomenal growth of the agricultural trade relationship between the United States and Japan over the past 50 years, as well as the celebration of the strong ties that have been built and will continue to foster successful trade for agricultural products in the years to come. Today, Japan is the largest commercial market for U.S. feed grains, pork, wheat, potatoes and rice, and will return to being the largest market for U.S. beef. It is also the world’s largest net importer of consumer ready food products. Japan’s purchases have been essential contributors to the health of the U.S. economy and will continue to be critical for the future of U.S. agriculture.
Through a series of “Partners in Agriculture” events, the Council will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the “hog lift,” which sparked the Iowa-Yamanashi Sister State relationship and, of course, the start of the U.S. Grains Council.
This exciting series of events was kicked of this week with a press conference at the FOODEX JAPAN trade show in Tokyo and will be followed by events in April including a “Global Food Security Symposium” on April 7, which is sponsored by the Council. It will feature some of the world’s finest minds in a discussion about how to leverage the past successes of cooperator program, and how to continue providing security for a growing population.
Export Market Development - Agenda Item for USCP
The 2010 Commodity Classic is currently underway in Anaheim, Calif., as thousands of agricultural producers, agribusinesses, legislative officials and interested parties gather from across the United States for networking and educational opportunities.
As a partial sponsor of the event, the United Sorghum Checkoff Program’s (USCP) Board of Directors met to discuss policy priorities and the future of the checkoff initiative.
“At the Commodity Classic we are able to listen to the growers and then design our programs around their needs,” said USCP Board of Director Dale Artho. “If we couldn’t export sorghum, we would see the demand for sorghum drop. The partnership with the U.S. Grains Council has helped expand the sorghum export market and increase demand.”
The Sorghum Checkoff will host a “What is New” session at the Commodity Classic to inform growers of the successful projects funded in the first year of operation. For more information about the Sorghum Checkoff, visit www.sorghumcheckoff.com.
USDA’s Weekly Export Sales Highlights for February 19-25, 2010
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COUNCIL NEWS
Syngenta Named a “Most Innovative Company”
U.S. Grains Council member Syngenta has been recognized by Fast Company magazine as one of the world’s most innovative companies.
Syngenta was one of the select companies recognized from thousands reviewed by Fast Company magazine in its annual evaluation of “the creativity at work in the global marketplace.” Syngenta was included in Fast Company’s rankings of the 10 most innovative food companies, where it ranked sixth and was the only global agribusiness recognized. The full article can be found at www.fastcompany.com/MIC/2010.
USGC Sponsors Agri-Pulse Open Mic for March
The U.S. Grains Council sponsored March’s Agri-Pulse Open-Mic speaker U.S. Representative Leonard Boswell (D-IA), chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee for General Farm Commodities and Risk Management. The Council sponsorship includes a 20-second promotion before the speaker, a banner ad on the Agri-Pulse homepage and an Open-Mic interview of USGC President and CEO Thomas C. Dorr, to be aired in April. Check it out at www.argi-pulse.com.
New Members
Please join the Council in welcoming its newest members Global Ethanol and Rycom Trading Ltd. pending approval at the next USGC Board of Directors meeting.
Global Ethanol currently operates two dry mill ethanol production facilities. Each of these plants will be an individual member of the Council. The first plant, located outside of Lakota, Iowa, has a name-plate capacity of 53 million gallons per year. The second plant is located in Riga, Mich. It was commissioned in March 2007 with a name-plate capacity of 54 million gallons per year of ethanol. Global Ethanol will be represented on the Council by Eric Brandt.
Rycom Trading Ltd. trades a variety of commodities including DDGS and barley for the swine, beef cattle, dairy, broiler and layer markets. Rycom also serves as the link between the end-users and buyers of agricultural commodities and the manufacturers and producers through its trading services. The company helps agricultural producers strengthen their market with services, including foreign exchanges, customs brokerage, transportation and storage. Rycom is headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, and also has an office in Montana. The company will be represented on the Council by its president, Ryan Slozka.
NEW ON THE WEB
New Video Posted on the USGC Web site
Check out the U.S. Grains Council’s new 50th anniversary pomotional video posted on the USGC Web site, www.grains.org. Celebrate 50 years of developing export markets for U.S. corn, barley, sorghum and their products with the Council in Boston, July 18-21, 2010, during its 50th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting. Check out the Council’s Web site for more information.
COUNCIL ACTIVITY CALENDAR
March 10-11: Rebecca Fecitt, U.S. Grains Council director of biotechnology programs, and USGC Trade Policy Advisory Team Leader Chip Councell, delegate for Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board, will attend the Monsanto Grower Advisory Council Meeting in Washington, D.C. Topics in the meeting will include updates on biotech regulatory and policy; sustainability; and Monsanto’s sponsorship of the television program “America’s Heartland.” For more information, contact Fecitt at
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March 7-13: Members of the U.S. Grains Council Board of Directors will travel to the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Panama. The Board of Directors include Rick Fruth, Terry Vinduska, Wendell Shauman, Don Fast, Jim Broten and Julius Schaaf. USGC staff accompanying the Board Thomas C. Dorr, president and CEO, Chris Corry, senior director of international operations, and Kurt Shultz, director in Latin America and the Caribbean Region. The team will assess the current U.S. market share and potential opportunities in each country. They will follow up with current local contacts and share market intelligence. The team will also meet with local government officials and USDA and USAID representatives. The travel will conclude in Panama, coinciding with the grand opening of the Council’s new office for Latin American and the Caribbean Region. For more information, contact Gina Tumbarello, USGC manager of international operations for Rest of the World, at
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March 7-13: Snack food industry leaders from Costa Rica and Guatemala will travel to the United States to attend a snack-foods processing course at Texas A&M University. The team will be escorted by USGC Regional Consultant Alejandro Gonzalez. For more information, contact Gina Tumbarello, USGC manager of international operations for Rest of the World, at
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March 11: U.S. Grains Council Director of Membership Shannon Schaffer will participate in the Arkansas Corn and Grain Sorghum Board meeting via video conference. Schaffer will discuss Council programs and goals and the Board’s investment in the Council. For more information, contact Schaffer at
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The U.S. Grains Council does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation or marital/family status. Persons with disabilities, who require alternative means for communication of program information should contact the U.S. Grains Council.
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