U.S. Grains Council Hosting News Conference at Commodity Classic

Font Size

Contact Marri Carrow at 202-789-0789

Thursday, 25 February 2010 18:46

U.S. Grains Council Chairman Rick Fruth and Senior Vice President of Operations and Industry Relations Keith Heffernan will host a news conference at the Commodity Classic event in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, March 5, 2010. Fruth and Heffernan will announce “Partners in Agriculture” events and activities and discuss the Council’s involvement.

The “Partners in Agriculture” events will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Iowa-Yamanashi Sister State relationship, which sparked the USDA’s cooperator programs, the famous “hog-lift” and the start of the U.S. Grains Council. The “hog lift” experience helped lay the foundation for the Council, which set up one of its first international offices in Japan in 1961. There are now approximately fifty cooperators active in the Japanese market.

Japan is the perfect example of how the partnership between USDA and cooperators has been one of the most successful public-private partnerships in the United States, facilitating billions of dollars in U.S. agricultural exports and creating millions of jobs. Today, Japan is largest commercial market for U.S. feed grains, pork, wheat, potatoes and rice, and will return to being the largest market for 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 U.S. agriculture.

For more information about “Partners in Agriculture,” check out www.partners-in-agriculture.org. The news conference will be held from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. in room 213-D, Anaheim Convention Center. The Council will also host booth #633 at the Commodity Classic trade show.

Click here to read this week's Global Update.

20 F Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20001 Phone: 202-789-0789 Fax: 202-898-0522

Glossary | The GRAIN Center | Privacy Policy

The U.S. Grains Council is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to building export markets for barley, corn, sorghum and their products. The Council is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has 10 international offices and active market development programs in more than 50 countries. Financial support from the Council’s private industry members, including state checkoffs, agribusinesses, state entities and others, triggers federal matching funds from the government and support from cooperating groups in other countries, producing an annual market development program valued at more than $28.3 million.

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. The U.S. Grains Council is an Equal Opportunity Employer. For more information on Section 508, please go to the following website: http://www.ocio.usda.gov/508/index.html