Photo credit: U.S. Grains & BioProducts.
A Mexican corn buying group representing the dairy, cattle, swine, poultry and white corn industries recently traveled to Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas to develop direct sourcing relationships with U.S. suppliers.
The group was escorted by U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council Senior Marketing Specialist Javier Chávez. The buying group purchases approximately 400,000 metric tons, or 15.7 million bushels, of U.S. corn and 80,000 metric tons of U.S. distillers dried grains with solubles annually.
The program has helped expand supplier diversification while strengthening connections among Mexican buyers, U.S. cooperatives, elevators and other participants in the corn value chain.
In Iowa, the group met with two grower cooperatives to establish long-term business relationships. The participants then traveled to Nebraska, where they met with two additional cooperatives, toured a local farm to observe crop conditions and visited a major railway stakeholder to learn about rail logistics at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In Kansas, the group visited a major agricultural cooperative and a grain elevator to learn more about the U.S. grain delivery system. Two farms also welcomed participants to observe the corn harvest process.
A meeting with a rail company and the U.S. Federal Grain Inspection Service provided additional information about U.S. grain infrastructure and quality assurance.
USGBC plans additional programs that will connect purchasers with merchandisers and cooperatives, provide opportunities to tour feedlots and facilitate discussions with rail logistics leaders.
The council said demonstrating the consistency and reliability of U.S. corn and its co-products throughout the export chain can help maintain and expand U.S. growers' market share in Mexico, a major customer for U.S. grain.
Source: U.S. Grains & BioProducts, "Mexican Corn, DDGS Purchasers Visit U.S. Corn Belt"