Two Wisconsin corn growers will promote the quality of U.S. corn before importers and end users at conferences in Japan, Korea, Egypt and Morocco hosted by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC).
Jim Birchman
Ken Rosenow
Ken Rosenow, Oconomowoc, and Jim Birchman, Fennimore, will participate in the USGC’s Corn Quality Rollout conferences to promote U.S. grain quality. Rosenow will travel to Morocco and Egypt, January 24-29. Birchman will travel to Japan and Korea, January 24-30. Both are representing the Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board, which has the mission of expanding sales of Wisconsin corn.
“Exports are so important to our marketing and to the price we receive for our corn, so we need to keep strong relationships with foreign buyers and users of U.S. corn through these corn quality conferences,” Rosenow said. “We have a great story to tell about the quality and volume of the 2015 corn crop.”
“What excites me about this trip is the opportunity to meet with our buyers and users and find out what they are looking for in U.S. grain,” Birchman said. “I realize how important it is to stay in touch with your customer in providing what they are looking for.”
Rosenow and Birchman, along with corn growers from other states, will present the Council’s Corn Harvest Quality Report to provide traders, feed millers, major livestock producers and government officials information on U.S. corn quality, supply, production and demand, and changes in future corn supply and demand. These conferences help foreign buyers make informed purchases and build confidence in the quality of this year’s U.S. corn crop.
Japan is the largest export market for U.S. corn, which represents 90 percent of the corn Japan imports. The U.S. exports 10 percent of its corn to Korea, which is about 50 percent of the corn Korea imports.
“I hope to share the story of what Wisconsin farmers are doing to be sustainable,” Birchman said. “There’s a great deal of environmental practices that we are using to protect the soil and improve soil health to raise some of the best corn in the world.”
The conferences in Egypt and Morocco will emphasize promoting DDGS and corn co-products because U.S. corn exports to the region are facing tough competition from Ukraine, Brazil, and Argentina.
“Feed manufacturers and feed users in the Middle East region are not used to including DDGS in their feed rations, and they are not well aware of its economic and nutrition value. These meetings will reinforce the quality and benefit of using our corn and corn products,” Rosenow said.
To read the USGC Corn Harvest Quality Report, go to: http://grains.org/sites/default/files/HarvestReport-20151216.pdf
The primary objective of the Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board, which has been in place since 1983, is to maintain and expand sales of Wisconsin corn through research, market development and consumer education. The nine-member Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board is responsible for overseeing the collection and use of assessment fees paid by Wisconsin corn growers.
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