Council Recognizes Industry Partners For 10 Years Of Service

Council Recognizes Industry Partners For 10 Years Of Service
The work of the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) would not be possible without the support of numerous partners throughout the industry. That’s why we are proud to recognize Sean Broderick, Brian Arnold and Greg Krissek for 10 years of service to the organization.

Sean Broderick works for CHS, Inc., where he is a trading manager responsible for sales of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) for more than 20 ethanol plants. As a member of the USGC Board of Delegates, he served as the lead of the Value-Added Advisory Team (A-Team) and has had the opportunity to travel internationally as a part of Council outreach efforts.

“I’ve traveled many times with the Council overseas,” Broderick said. “It’s easy to see how appreciative the people in the destination countries are of the products that we’re creating here in the United States.”

Broderick said that as someone who works not with a grain product but with a byproduct of the ethanol industry, there are times during which international customers are not as familiar with the product he is selling. That’s where the value of the Council has been.

“The Council has gone out and created awareness for DDGS and, in doing so, created a market for it. For me, it’s worthwhile to be part of a group that is helping both sides, both the producer here in the U.S. and the feed mixer in the destination country.”

Brian Arnold is a member of the export sales team with The DeLong Co., Inc., and has worked with the Council since the late 2000s when he was asked to speak at an Export Exchange conference. In the years since, he has increased his involvement, serving on the Board of Delegates and as the lead of the Value-Added A-Team.

“The Council’s work is very important because, especially in recent years with some of the trade disputes, they’re able to act as the liaison,” he said.

Arnold said he also believes USGC’s role as a singular voice for the industry gives it a unique perspective. Whether it’s working with corn-producing states, ethanol producers or DDGS exporters, he said the Council provides common ground for varying interest groups to come together and propose a message about U.S. agriculture that can spread domestically and abroad.

“There’s always a commonality I truly appreciate that the Council brings together. Specifically, I think about the Value-Added A-Team in that many of the members present are competitors. Yet, over the course of the last 10 to 15 years of this industry’s growth, we’ve all had a great appreciation for the growing pains the DDGS market has endured,” Arnold said. “That’s why I think there’s a lot of mutual respect gained in the course of those meetings. Everyone that I’ve encountered over the last decade with the Council has gone through that together.”

Greg Krissek is the CEO of Kansas Corn and has been working with USGC since the 1990s, first as part of the Kansas Department of Agriculture and then later in his roles with the corn commission. His involvement expanded, though, about six years ago when Kansas corn growers approved an increase of their checkoff rate from $0.005 per bushel to a penny per bushel, with the goal of having more resources to represent Kansas farmers with partners like the Council.

“Kansas has had increasing corn production for the last 10 years, which has really helped us focus on exports,” Krissek said. “We started working on projects [with USGC] in Mexico and then have started to be involved in supporting expanded Council efforts in Asia.”

Early on, Krissek served on the Ethanol A-Team, leveraging his experience in that industry. However, he recently joined the Middle East/Africa/South Asia A-Team to expand his experience there.

“I’m a big believer in building relationships in order to then follow through and have a business relationship,” he said. “The model the Council follows – where the local or regional offices around the world provide that face for U.S. agriculture and corn farmers – is a great starting point. It can then lead to making the personal connections between the importing customer and, ultimately, both the grain traders and the producer farmers.”

Please help us in thanking Sean Broderick, Brian Arnold and Greg Krissek for their decades of service to the Council and for their dedication to building demand for U.S. grains and co-products around the world!

Read about other members honored for resolutions of service.