The release of the U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC’s) 2014/2015 Corn Harvest Quality Report has become a globally anticipated event. Within days of its release, the Council started presenting the annual report’s findings to customers in overseas markets to provide them the critical information they need to make informed purchases and build confidence in the quality of this year’s U.S. corn crop.
One of the first presentations of this information was in Cairo, Egypt, where USGC Regional Director of the Middle East and Africa Cary Sifferath along with USGC Marketing Manager in Egypt Hesham Hassanein presented the findings to more than 80 buyers and end-users from the region. Click here to view photos from the event.
Across the globe, in cooperation with the Taiwan Feed Industry Association (TFIA), the Council conducted a Corn Harvest Quality Report symposium in Taipei on Jan. 14.
In attendance were approximately 80 traders, feed millers, major hog and poultry producers and government officials as well as Greg Alber of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, who traveled to the meeting to share his experiences growing corn in the United States. Alber and Council staff addressed questions including the planting intentions of U.S. corn farmers in the upcoming year, production costs for corn, the decrease in crude protein of the 2014 U.S. corn crop and more.
“This symposium was very educational, informative and helpful,” said USGC Director of Taiwan Clover Chang. “This activity enhanced the relationship between U.S. producers and Taiwanese buyers of U.S. corn. It also built the local industry’s confidence in U.S. corn quality and demonstrated that the Council is a leader in the industry at providing reliable, transparent and timely market information.”
This week, the Council also wrapped up its rollouts of the report in Colombia and Japan.
Because of the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement, that country rose to be the fourth largest U.S. corn market last year. This year, U.S. corn is once again on track to capture approximately 95 percent of this 3.6 million metric ton (142 million bushel) market.
“We were able to have one-on-one meetings with the top five grain importers in the country, who collectively represent more than 70 percent of the total corn market in Colombia,” said Marri Carrow, USGC regional director for the Western Hemisphere, who took part in the Colombian rollout. “That type of interaction is critical to building their confidence and also served to reaffirm to Colombian customers the U.S. corn industry’s commitment to meeting their needs.”
Click here to view photos from these meetings.
In Japan, the report rollout activities were part of a Corn Outlook Conference that helps keep customers in that mature market informed and deepens ties between U.S. corn farmers and the Japanese livestock farmers who buy their product.
The harvest quality report and a second quality report that examines the impact of handling on quality, the Corn Export Cargo Quality Report, are intended to provide reliable, timely and transparent information on the quality of U.S. corn and allow industry participants to gauge quality changes over time.
The export quality report is expected to be released in March, which will complete the fourth editions in an ongoing series of reports.
Click here to view the Corn Harvest Quality Report.