By Thomas C. Dorr, U.S. Grains Council President and CEO

This is our 50th Annual Membership Meeting, so it is especially appropriate for me, as a relative newcomer, to pause and recognize the vision, dedication and commitment of those who have made the Grains Council the great organization that it is. It is a privilege and a pleasure to be with you today, and to serve as a member of your team.

While we all have different experiences and perspectives, collectively, we share a simple and important mission: to build export markets for U.S. grains, to help feed a hungry world and to increase opportunities for producers, agricultural processors and marketers in all sectors of our industry.

That mission remains as vital today as it was 50 years ago. Our challenge, going forward, is to adapt our strategies to a rapidly changing production environment, to evolving consumption patterns, and to an international marketplace that is bigger, deeper and more dynamic than ever before.

This is a challenge and an opportunity. Our business is not static. Distiller’s grians, ethanol, biodiesel and other biobased products present new market opportunities. There is also risk from policy uncertainty and from a dynamic technology environment that makes it difficult to predict long-term winners.

Nor is supply static. We are in the early stages of the genomics revolution. Rates of adoption will vary, but as these technologies are diffused, as unused and underutilized agricultural land is called back into production, as modern production techniques are adopted internationally, and as population growth continues to moderate, agricultural abundance may become the norm, not the exception, among the nations of the world.

None of this will happen overnight. Nor will it happen uniformly. But over time, it is clear that fundamental economic relationships are being realigned and that old business models will be challenged. And so we must adapt:

• We must continue to improve U.S. infrastructure to ensure that we retain and rebuild a competitive edge in production and transport.

• We must look to new markets. We must ensure that we enhance our capacity to deal with emerging markets outside our traditional logistical infrastructure.

• We must ask, “Are we agile or flexible enough to increase market share in an ever-more competitive international marketplace?”

• We also must ask, “Are we, as an organization, optimally structured for this new environment?”

New markets, products, technologies and new means of communications challenge inherited business models and we must be ready to adapt. That too is part of our legacy.

The point is, simply, that change is a constant. We are here today to celebrate 50 years of service. We are still here because this organization has repeatedly risen to the challenge of change. And working together, we will do so again.

I look forward to having this discussion with you in the months and years ahead. We ARE member led, and it is YOUR bottom line that counts in this discussion. I look forward to working with you. Thank you.

Listen or watch the full speech at http://www.thegrainboard.com/2010/02/market-development-strategy.html.