The Honorable Daniel R. Pearson, vice chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission, is slated to deliver the keynote address July 20 at the U.S. Grains Council’s 50th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting.

The meeting, to be held July 18-21, 2010, will celebrate the Council’s 50 years of international market development for U.S. corn, barley, sorghum and their co-products.

Pearson intends to look to the future and echo the meeting’s theme, “50 Years of Leadership, Acting on Opportunity,” while his remarks will be heavily influenced by the lessons learned through active U.S. agricultural engagement in the global marketplace. He will also cover the challenges that lie ahead in the U.S. feed grains sector.

Pearson’s involvement with the Council dates back to the 1980s when he served on a panel discussing pre-Uruguay Round issues at the Council’s meeting in Traverse City, Mich.

“I recall being impressed with the Council’s unusually diverse membership, which brought together growers and agribusinesses to work on behalf of the overall good of the feed grains sector,” Pearson said of his experience.

He served on the Council’s Board of Directors for 10 years, and was involved in three USGC trade policy missions to China and Vietnam. These missions focused on helping government officials, traders and agribusinesses in those countries better understand the types of policy changes they would have to make in order to join the World Trade Organization.

“This has not made either country a perfect trading partner, but it has helped them to develop vibrant livestock feed industries, thus building a demand base and encouraging them to import U.S. feedstuffs when needed,” Pearson said.

Pearson said his time spent with the Council made him aware of the importance of international trade and the responsibility of the United States to be a reliable supplier of coarse grains and co-products. “If we want worldwide demand for U.S. agricultural products to be strong, we have to be willing to resist protectionism and defend an open global trading system,” he said.